LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chapl!S46Copyriglit No 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ORIENTAL DAYS 



BY 



LUCIA A. PALMER 

(MRS. H. R. PALMER) 



NEW YORK 
THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY 
5 AND 7 EAST SIXTEENTH STREET 

c 




TWO COPIES HLCEIVED 



Copyright, 1897, by 
Lucia A. Palmer 



THE NEW YORK TYPE - SETTING COMPANY 



THE CAXTON PRESS 



PREFACE 



T was my great privilege to accompany 
Dr. Palmer during his travels in the 
East. While absent I gathered nu- 
merous notes and wrote a large number 
of sketches. On our return I put them in order 
for the pure pleasure it gave. They have proved 
so interesting to those who have read them that I 
have put these notes and sketches into print, and 
before doing so I have carefully revised them. If 
there be special credit due any one individual I do 
not know it. I have drawn freely from the sources 
open to all, and probably not more so than others 
have done who have written before me. 

In writing " Oriental Days " the author has en- 
deavored to impart, aside from the incidents of 
travel, some knowledge of the countries visited, 
the condition of the people, their habits of life, 
governments and their religion, and, sometimes 
turning back the pages of history, to write old, 




PREFACE 

old facts of the ancients, as old as the Bible and 
growing older every day ; and yet there never were 
as many in the world who do not know these facts 
as to-day. 

"Oriental Days" is a companion to "Grecian 
Days," treating of the Nile country and King 
David's land. "Grecian Days" has been largely 
read by high-class readers and has already won its 
way to success. 

Lucia A. Palmee. 

Park Hill-on-Hudson. 



4 



CONTENTS 
EGYPTIAN DAYS 

PAGE 

I. From Sea to Land 9 

II. Through the Delta to Cairo 18 

III. Cairo and the English in Egypt . . . . .24 

IV. Old Cairo and New Cairo 30 

V. Copts and Mohammedans 35 

VI. The Schools and University of Cairo . . . ,40 

VII. The Citadel and the Mamelukes 47 

VLU. The Going Out of Pilgrims 55 

IX. The Pyramids and Sphinx 61 

X. An Excursion into the Desert 72 

XI. Beginnings of History, Government, and Military 

of the Ancient Egyptians 81 

XII. The Priests and Religious Beliefs of the Ancient 

Egyptians 86 

XIII. The Nile, Memphis, and Sakkarah . . . .90 

XIV. Returning through Palm-groves . . . .105 
XV. The Finding of the Pharaohs Ill 

XVI. Leaving Egypt— Isma'1l!ya and the Suez Canal . . 115 

DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

I. Jaffa and Environs 127 

H. Up to Jerusalem 136 

III. Jerusalem Street Scenes and Ecce Homo . . .148 

5 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

IV. Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Dome of the Rock, 



El-Aksa, and Solomon's Stables .... 154 
V. The Mount of Olives, Bethany, and the Judean 

Hills 160 

VI. The Plains of J ordan, Old Jericho, and Gilgal . 168 

VLI. The Dead Sea 178 

VIII. The Jordan and the Return to Jerusalem . . 182 

IX. An Oriental Wedding 193 

X. Bethlehem — The King of Israel . . . .200 

XI. Palm Sunday and Golgotha 205 

XII. Mohammedans and Holy Wars 210 

Xin. The Turkish Empire and the Sultan .... 219 
XIV. The Quarries of Solomon, the Tomb of Mary, and 

the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus . . 229 
XV. The Beautiful Gate and the Valley of Jehoshaphat 234 

XVI. Retrospect and Departure 240 

XVII. Port Said, Alexandria, and Marseilles . . . 245 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



1 



FROM SEA TO LAND 

E entered Egypt from the sea at Alexan- 
dria. Our first view of the shore had 
been made familiar through photo- 
graphs and engravings. The coast-line 
is flat. A sand-bar, a breakwater, a lighthouse, a 
windmill, a chateau with domes and minarets, and 
the picture is complete. 

The harbor is not a very safe one to enter, on 
account of the narrow, rocky channel, and vessels 
arriving at night are obliged to ride at anchor until 
daylight, it being unsafe to attempt an entrance in 
the night-time. Under the guidance of a pilot we 
passed slowly by the moat and came to anchor. It 
was a lovely morning. The sun shone out warm 
and strong, and the steam rose in clouds from our 
storm-washed deck. The tempest-tossed only can 
know what a feeling of delight and thankfulness 
can possess one on entering a peaceful harbor with 
land and sea made bright by the rising sun. 

9 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 

Our ship not entering a dock made it necessary 
to land the passengers from rowboats, and such was 
the haste of the little fleet that came out to meet us, 
that, in less time than it takes to write it, the harbor 
was alive with these bobbing little crafts. The 
oarsmen, dressed in their many-colored garbs, and 
shouting in every language known to human ears, 
created a scene of animated confusion seldom wit- 
nessed elsewhere. They climbed into the ship, 
bringing their Babel of tongues with them. Just 
how strangers were to make known where they 
wished to go, or with whom to travel, was no easy 
task to find out; but somehow we all found our- 
selves in the right boat, and there was a pull for 
the shore — a race. It was beautiful to see a dozen 
pairs of oars strike the water at the same instant 
and send the boat over it like a shot. The distance 
was not long, the race short. We beat ! 

We were detained at the custom-house but a 
moment of time, and carriages were engaged for the 
hotel. Now the cabbies were seized with the racing 
spirit, — it seemed to be in the air, — and they started 
off at top speed, the nearly empty thoroughfare, in 
a measure, inviting it. We ought to have protested, 
but we did not ; we were tired of slow going and — 
rather liked it ! We had beaten on the water, and 
now had a good showing on land. To be sure, our 
horses were not of purest blood, but they were fly- 

10 



FROM SEA TO LAND 



ing by street-corners and lamp-posts as fast as the 
law would permit. The distance between our car- 
riage and the others was growing rapidly. We 
looked back and smiled in triumph ; but, alas ! in 
the spinning of the wheels a tire left us, and we 
were run into a smithy shop for repairs. Small 
ambitions are liable to small endings. At luncheon 
we were taunted by the winners with the question, 
"Why did you go into the smithy's?" and in a 
moment of temptation replied, " To see antiquities. 
What did we come to Egypt for 1 n It is sometimes 
laughable as well as sad to see how soon we assimi- 
late to our surroundings. 

Our hotel window opened on the Place Mehemet 
Ali, a beautiful little inclosure containing fountains 
and decorative trees and shrubs. In the center rises 
the equestrian statue of Mehemet Ali. It is an im- 
pressive work of art. The statue is sixteen feet in 
height, standing on a pedestal twenty feet in height. 
The horse and rider are both spirited and imposing. 
This is the only statue we saw in all our travels 
erected to commemorate the deeds of a Moham- 
medan. Their religion strictly forbids the repre- 
sentation of the human form. It is a step toward 
idol-worship, according to their view, and the erect- 
ing of this statue met with decided opposition from 
pious Mohammedans. 

Mehemet Ali was the Napoleon of Egypt in his 

11 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

time, and as we so often meet with his works or 
hear of his acts, we will devote a little space to his 
history. There is much in his life to praise, and 
much to condemn as well. 

Mehemet Ali was the founder of the present 
dynasty in Egypt. He was born in Eoumelia, and 
received military training. Then he entered the 
Turkish army and rose to the rank of colonel, after 
which the Turkish government stationed him in 
Egypt. His genius was of the military and govern- 
iog kind, and it is believed that his policy, uninter- 
fered with by other persons, would have led to the 
complete independence of Egypt. The larger part of 
the present constitution of this country was framed 
by him. He was a man of great power, and what 
of his will could not be accomplished through gen- 
tle means was done through force. Besides doing 
a vast amount to improve the material condition 
and prosperity of the country, he also established 
schools and printing-offices, and introduced many 
needed reforms. He sent two or three hundred boys 
to Europe to be educated as teachers in different 
branches of education, in fine arts as well as in the 
useful arts. It is told of him that on their return 
he demanded of some of the boys the translation of 
a certain number of French text-books, and that he 
imprisoned them in the citadel until their task was 
completed. 

12 



EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF MEHEMET ALL 



FROM SEA TO LAND 



But for all these enterprises the funds were fairly- 
tortured out of a poverty-stricken people. Me- 
hemet Ali's attempt to change Egypt from an agri- 
cultural to a manufacturing country was disastrous, 
and discouraged and crippled the natural resources 
of the country, and added to its poverty an embar- 
rassing debt. 

After dinner we took a guide and drove about 
the city. The portion near the hotel was similar to 
most of the cities of Europe in architecture and 
lay-out of streets, avenues, and parks. There were 
many evidences of the wreck and ruin caused by 
the bombardment by the English during the last 
siege. 

All there is of the great past, which unfortu- 
nately was greater than the present, is Pompey's 
pillar, which is not Pompey's pillar at all, but a 
monument raised by the Eoman prefect Pompeius 
in honor of Diocletian, the defender of Alexandria. 
It has never been finished, and is altogether too 
young to claim standing with the F. F.'s of old 
Egypt. It did not take long to drive around it, and 
we began to wonder (aside from the necessity of 
entering Egypt) why we were in Alexandria at 
all. This led to reflection on the days when New 
York had no Central Park, nor obelisk, nor Brook- 
lyn Bridge, nor the Statue of Liberty, nor Ma — 
and the proud and haughty dwellers entertained 

13 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



their out-of-town friends by taking them to Pease's 
Mission and Barnum's Museum — " all day and all 
night for twenty-five cents." But this is wandering, 
and we turn back to Alexandria. 

The native women of Alexandria are often seen 
riding on donkeys, and ride astride, as they should. 
They wear long, loose-flowing robes of black silk or 
blue cotton cloth, according to the class to which 
they belong. When in motion, this kind of garment 
is liable to fill with air, to the amusement of those 
unaccustomed to such a spectacle. Their faces are 
covered with a long yashmak, or veil, which is at- 
tached to a gold or gilt fluted tube, and fastened on 
the nose between the eyes. This was the most 
uncomfortable-looking face-covering I saw in the 
Orient. The long yashmak is made of coarse black 
silk netting, and is almost as thick as cloth. It 
gave me a smothered feeling even to look at them. 

Many of these dames were trinketed out with 
large hoop ear-rings and bangle bracelets. With all 
this elaborate enveloping and bedecking, the little 
donkey, which is generally a fine one, is nearly lost 
sight of, but what is seen of him is in keeping with 
his rider. He has a many-colored saddle-cloth, with 
fringe, tassels, and little bells hanging from the 
bridle. The nimble trot of the beast, the dangling 
tassels and tinkling bells, make an animated pass- 
ing, to say nothing of the ostentatious dame, who 

14 



FROM SEA TO LAND 



bridles up and guides her animal with as much 
spirit and seeming pride as some American ladies 
who handle the ribbons of a fom*-in-hand. 

The eyes of the veiled woman are exposed, and 
it is not uncommon to see the edges of the eyelids 
blackened with antimony. This, together with 
heavy black eyelashes and smooth black eyebrows, 
does for the possessor's eyes what our black and 
green-black sash does for our window-glass — gives 
a brilliant effect. It seems a loss of expense to veil 
the face and leave such dangerous eyes at large. 

We finished our drive by visiting the locality on 
the sea-shore where once stood the famous New York 
obelisk, or, as it is so often called, Cleopatra's Nee- 
dle. It originally stood, with its companion now 
in London, in front of the great temple of the sun 
at Heliopolis, five miles from Cairo. It was brought 
to Alexandria during the reign of Tiberius, and set 
up in front of the temple of Caesar. At the time of 
its removal to New York it had occupied this place 
on the sea for more than eighteen hundred years, and 
was one of the most interesting objects in Alexan- 
dria. The greatest indignation was exhibited at the 
time it was being transferred to the ship for trans- 
portation to New York. At one time a popular out- 
break was feared, and was probably restrained only 
through sympathy and respect for the young khe- 
dive. The giving of this obelisk to our government 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

was one of the last acts in the life of the Khedive 
Ismail, and Tewfik, his son and successor, insisted 
that his father's wishes should be carried out by 
allowing the stone to be removed. 

The reason why this obelisk journeyed to New 
York instead of Washington was because the 
United States government failed to furnish the 
necessary funds for its transportation, and New 
York is indebted to the generosity of the late W. H. 
Vanderbilt (a fact not as well known as it should 
be) for the money which made this rare relic of the 
past the property of the city of New York. It was 
my great privilege to be present at the presentation 
ceremony at the Metropolitan Museum, and I well 
remember the satisfaction I felt in the thought that 
it was ours through gift rather than conquest. 

The New York obelisk bears the name of Eameses 
II. , the oppressor of the Israelites. At the time the 
obelisk was being put into its present place in Cen- 
tral Park, Brugsch Bey, Egyptologist, wrote a very 
important letter containing scholarly and valuable 
information concerning obelisks. He believes, and 
has proved, that obelisks had their origin in the 
remotest period of Egyptian antiquity. They were 
made as symbols of the sun, and were consecrated 
to the sun and solar divinities, as Ea and Turn at 
Heliopolis (ancient On), Ea the rising sun, Turn 
the setting. Pliny is referred to as having said 

16 



FROM SEA TO LAND 



that obelisks were usually placed in symmetrical 
proportion to the sun's rays. 

The transporting of these vast monoliths is noth- 
ing new in history. The large one at Karnak, 
estimated as weighing two hundred and ninety- 
seven tons, must have been lifted from its natural 
bed in the quarry, lowered into a ship, raised again, 
placed on some kind of a carriage, and conveyed a 
hundred miles by land, then placed in position on 
its pedestal. After the conquest of Egypt by the 
Romans, a large number were conveyed to Eome. 

After our first disappointment in the leanness of 
Alexandria's wealth in relics and antiquities, we 
became more and more interested in the thriving 
city of to-day. But as Alexandria is comparatively 
cool after the heat becomes almost unbearable in 
the interior of the country, we decided to leave 
further sight-seeing in Alexandria until our return, 
and departed on the afternoon train. 



17 



THROUGH THE DELTA TO CAIRO 

HE railroad line from Alexandria to 
Cairo was the first line constructed in 
the East, and was completed in 1855. 
We soon passed the gardens bordering 
on the city, and then skirted for a time along the 
MahmMiyeh Canal. This canal is a very important 
and interesting work. It was reopened by Mehemet 
Ali for the pnrpose of connecting Alexandria with 
the Nile, and thns arresting the decay of the dwin- 
dling commerce of that city, and also bringing a 
supply of fresh water for the irrigation of the ad- 
joining country. It was a noble enterprise, bnt 
carried out in a most merciless way. 

The canal is sixty miles long, from twelve to fif- 
teen feet deep, and from fifty to one hundred wide. 
The entire work was carried on through compulsory 
labor, and with such energy that it was completed 
in less than a year. In the execution of this great 
undertaking more than two hundred and fifty 

18 




THROUGH THE DELTA TO CAIRO 



thousand men were employed, and not less than 
twenty thousand lost their lives from diseases they 
contracted in the lowlands and from over-exertion. 
In the overcrowded East, rulers seem to think men 
the cheapest and meanest creatures God has sent 
them. Suffering is of no account, and life not 
worth saving. It is ever the lash and the task- 
master in Egypt. 

Near at hand is Lake Mareotis (Beheret Maryut). 
We will not skip it ; that, too, has played its part 
in history. Its misfortunes have left most of it 
but a dreary waste of salt marsh-lands. During 
the inundation it assumes a more pleasant aspect. 
Anciently it was navigable for boats, and around 
its borders were fertile lands and famous vineyards. 
How changed! During the Arabic and Turkish 
rule the waters filtered and dried away, and the 
land became tillable. 

At the time of Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, the 
French discovered that the lower portion of the 
lake was composed of sand that held the rain-water 
which furnished the army for the greater part of the 
winter. The English army, who were cooperating 
with the Egyptian army at the time, were besieging 
the French in Alexandria, and, to stop their water- 
supply, cut through the narrow strip of land be- 
tween the lake and the sea. The lake basin is about 
eight feet below the sea-level. This covered more 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



than one hundred thousand acres of land with sea- 
water. The dry basin of the lake contained about 
one hundred and fifty villages, which were all de- 
stroyed, and many lives lost, and great suffering 
ensued. This was not an Egyptian lash ; it was an 
English war measure. 

I saw, in this locality, more of human and brute 
wretchedness in an hour than I had ever seen be- 
fore in my lifetime: the mud hovels, surrounded 
by mud and mire, the bony animals and water- 
soaked fowls, the bedraggled women and children, 
the battered, mangy, half-miring camels, carrying 
their wet burdens, followed by poor little donkeys 
with huge loads, and a boy astride and with his 
spattered, dirty legs urging the animal forward, 
while the poor beast made desperate efforts to 
hurry, but could not as long as he had to pull his 
feet out of the paint-like mud into which they sank 
at every step. 

In the alluvial tract of country between the di- 
verging mouths of the Nile, known as the delta, is 
to be found the great grain-field of Egypt. 

There is little variety in the landscape — a few 
mounds of the remains of ancient cities, now and 
then a palm-grove, and the usual Egyptian village. 
This is one of the prosperous portions of Egypt, 
and contains several considerable cities. Tanta, 
one of the largest of these cities, is famous for its 

20 



THROUGH THE DELTA TO CAIRO 

fairs, and has a population of sixty thousand in- 
habitants, and DamanMr, twenty-five thousand. 
The last-named place was where Napoleon came 
near being taken prisoner. In his march thus far 
he had encountered little opposition. His taking 
of Alexandria was little more than sailing into the 
harbor, going ashore, and pitching his tent ; but 
when he marched inland the heat scorched him, and 
the Mamelukes, or sovereign's troops, harassed him. 
The land seemed alive with Mamelukes. They 
came mounted on the finest Arabian horses, dressed 
in rich, glittering Oriental garb, armed with pistols 
and muskets. Thus fitted out they would dash 
down on the French with the speed of the wind, 
surprising and bewildering them. They would 
capture any straggling portion of the line, and 
wheel and gallop off at the same rate of speed at 
which they came. 

These little skirmishes did not hinder the French 
soldiers from seeing the ludicrous side of some of 
the incidents connected with them. It seems that 
Napoleon had promised protection to civilians, and 
they had provided themselves with asses for the 
transportation of themselves and their property ; so 
when an attack was suspected, the soldiers formed 
a hollow square, and the officer would, with mili- 
tary precision, command the savants and asses to 
enter the square, and, in spite of military discipline, 

21 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



the appreciative Frenchmen would emphasize the 
order with shouts of laughter. 

Napoleon ordered every horse captured from a 
Mameluke to be shipped to France. In this enter- 
prise he encountered some ill luck. One vessel was 
lost and another taken prisoner. It is said he re- 
gretted the loss of his horses more than that of his 
private secretary, who was captured at the same 
time. Large numbers, however, arrived in safety, 
and a trace of Arabian blood is still to be seen in 
France in the faces of the horses with shapely heads, 
mild eyes, and pointed ears. 

Near Cairo we passed the Rosetta branch of the 
Nile. It was at Rosetta, in 1799, while the French 
soldiers were throwing up an intrenchment, that 
the spade of one unearthed a remarkable-looking 
stone. It was black syenite basalt, having on it 
an inscription in three different languages — hiero- 
glyphics, demotic (the language in common use by 
the Egyptians), and Greek. This trilingual tablet, 
known by the name of the Rosetta stone, proved a 
key to the interpreting of the hieroglyphics ; then 
followed the reading of much of the lost history of 
Egypt. This strange stone and revealer of myster- 
ies dates back two hundred years prior to Christ's 
time. 

To Napoleon we owe the finding of the Rosetta 
stone, which led to the deciphering of the hiero- 

22 



THROUGH THE DELTA TO CAIRO 



glyphics by Champollion, and added an untold 
amount of knowledge of Egypt, that has gone to 
enrich Egyptology. There is a bust of Champollion 
(who died in 1836) in Room 111, Musee des Anti- 
quites, Louvre, where also may be seen many inter- 
esting objects of Egyptian antiquity. 

After conquering Egypt, Napoleon did much for 
its advancement. He added to his army a hundred 
or more of the most eminent scientists of the time. 
These men directed excavations, traced the old 
canal from the Nile to Suez, and it is thought 
probable that through this work the idea of the 
Suez Canal had its origin. They uncovered ancient 
monuments and studied their inscriptions, and did a 
world of work in many directions. He also founded 
the Institute of Egypt, none being admitted to mem- 
bership but persons of distinguished achievements. 



23 



Ill 



CAIRO AND THE ENGLISH IN EGYPT 

E arrived in Cairo, the "Grand," the 
" Beautiful," the" Blessed," as it is often 
called, in the evening, and awoke next 
morning to look out on green trees and 
crowded streets. Busy people in every style of 
dress and hue of color were hurrying by. They 
were mostly Egyptians, Turks, and English, but 
besides these there were few or many from every 
known quarter of the globe. The count says, taken 
together, Cairo has about four hundred thousand 
inhabitants. Just how they take the count I do 
not know, when the majority of the people seem to 
live on the streets. 

Egypt is a Turkish province, and Cairo is its 
capital. And that I might have an intelligent idea 
of governmental proceedings, I took the trouble 
to make a list of the officials and the offices they 
fill. 

The emperor is an absolute despot, and is called 

24 




CAIRO AND THE ENGLISH IN EGYPT 



"sultan" or "Grand Seignior." He lives at Con- 
stantinople, the capital of the Turkish empire. 

The khedive is the king or viceroy. 

A sheik is the chief of a tribe, an elder, a learned 
man ; a title of reverence. 

Sheik ul Islam is the chief mufti, or interpreter 
of the law, at Constantinople. 

The prime minister is called " grand vizir." 

The court of the sultan is called the Porte, the 
Sublime Porte, from the name of a door to the im- 
perial palace. 

Governors of provinces are called "pashas," or 
" bashaws," and are of three different ranks, denoted 
by the number of horse-tails on their standards. 

The seraglio (se-ral'yo) is an assemblage of pal- 
aces in Constantinople inhabited by the sultan and 
his court. 

Harem, "home or domestic fireside." Haram, 
" sacred inclosure." 

Of the young Khedive of Egypt, Abbas Pasha, 
there is nothing to say. He has done nothing, he 
has had nothing to do, but to be born. The Koran 
dictates his religion ; the sultan dictates his policy ; 
the English control his army, bank his money, and 
have a bond and mortgage on his real estate ; and 
now, poor fellow, the kingdoms of the earth are 
much afraid he may not do something in the best 
interests of his country ! 

25 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



Up to the time of the English occupation, Egypt 
belonged to the Turkish empire, with the seat of 
government in Constantinople. It does now, nomi- 
nally, but in reality it belongs to the British em- 
pire, with the seat of government in London. 

To-day Egypt is really "no man's country." 
The sultan will not let go, and England tightens 
her grasp, and poor Egypt is starved and strangled 
into a condition of pitiable helplessness. England 
holds the country in bond, and demands her " pound 
of flesh," and can take it, for she took the blood 
first! 

Egypt owed, at one time, a debt of more than 
eighty million pounds. It was in five or more 
loans, and on every dollar of it, when the interest 
budget was all made up, she paid twelve per cent., 
and on some of the railroad loans very much more. 
The Suez Canal was sacrificed long ago to tempo- 
rarily bridge this chasm of obligation. Then new 
troubles arose, and English gunboats bombarded 
Alexandria and took possession of the whole of 
Lower Egypt, and England holds it now as secur- 
ity for her twelve per cent, interest. 

The land-tax amounts to nearly one half of the 
revenue of the country. Besides this there is a 
personal tax or poll-tax of just how much I do not 
know. I once saw a statement that it was twenty- 
five cents each. Soon after, I saw another state- 

26 



CAIRO AND THE ENGLISH IN EGYPT 

ment that it was four pounds. The latter is the 
most probable when we consider the amount of 
interest the natives must each year pay. 

The poor peasantry are hopelessly poor, and are 
struggling under this unrighteous taxation for im- 
provements that do not improve their lot in the 
least, and will not for generations to come. They 
could not be worse off and live. They can now 
but barely keep soul and body together. 

The English soldier, in his red coat, his rakish cap 
tilted on one side, and his hair plastered down with 
pomatum, is everywhere present. He struts the 
streets and swaggers at the citadel, and England 
" keeps what she has got," and " rustles for the rest." 

That the native Egyptian smarts under English 
supremacy is a fact not easily disguised. He does 
not enjoy the English rule and being held in times 
of peace and quiet as though in a state of siege. 

The Egyptians are not a warlike nation. They 
have won some grand victories in times past, it is 
true, but they are naturally a peace-loving people, 
and easily intimidated by those who have overcome 
them. I personally saw an example of this one 
day. A large number of tourists were returning to 
Cairo from an excursion in the country, and the 
boys, at different places along the way, offered for 
sale small objects of antiquity. I cannot say how 
genuine they were. One young fellow pushed his 

27 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



business a little too far to be agreeable to a burly- 
looking English chap, and the latter bent over his 
horse and gave the boy a full blow with a cane that 
was no flirtatious stick, but came nearer being a 
veritable club. The boy fairly doubled with pain, 
but not a look or a word. Such things do not speak 
well for the gaining of Egyptian independence ; but 
we must remember that the military is a mighty 
conciliator. A country that has been beaten in 
battle, and is too poor to own itself, is not likely 
soon to renew the struggle, unless supported by 
other nations. 

It is all very well to talk of "European civiliza- 
tion," " modern improvement," " the safety of trav- 
elers " ; some travelers ought not to be safe in Egypt 
or any other country. There is no mention made 
of the fact that Englishmen are filling nearly all 
the fat places in the army, the government, and 
commerce. I forgot to add that "Egypt under 
English rule is breathing a healthier atmosphere." 
The truth is, from the crowding in of English sol- 
diery, English officers, and English office-seekers, 
Egypt can scarcely find room to breathe at all. 
Cuba paid to Spain six million dollars yearly for a 
standing army to keep her in bondage. I do not 
know what Egypt pays. 

The English came to Egypt first with their Prayer- 
book, then they came with their shot-gun. The 

28 



CAIRO AND THE ENGLISH IN EGYPT 

shot-gun has the call now, and the poor Egyptians 
sigh amid the ruins of their past greatness, and 
must wait even for their pin-money until the Eng- 
lish have fingered it and taken out England's in- 
terest; then the Egyptians can have all the rest. 
It takes a great deal of money to pay twelve per 
cent, interest on a large national debt. 

England, just now, is resting, and waiting to be 
insulted, and wishing for some one to " step on the 
tail of me coat," so that she may be able to see her 
opportunity in some of the gold-fields of Africa 
unblessed with " English civilization." 

The Roman empire conquered and oppressed 
weak nations until the Roman eagle had a perch 
in nearly every quarter of the then known world. 
What of the Roman empire now ? History teaches 
more than it tells. 



29 



IV 



OLD CAIRO AND NEW CAIRO 

AIRO probably has the best climate in 
the world for three months in the year. 
There are but two seasons in Egypt, 
summer and spring. Winter is not 
known. Summer lasts from April to November, 
and during these months the heat is oppressive. 
When winter reigns at home, here it is lovely spring. 
In February they harvest clover. Three crops a 
year are raised in parts of the Nile Valley. 

From five to seven thousand in quest of health 
spend the winter in this city or at resorts in or near 
the desert. There is a comfortable hotel at the 
Great Pyramid, where visitors can rest or spend the 
night if they choose. The hotel was enlarged from 
a house that once belonged to an Englishman who, 
suffering from lung disease, hoped to receive bene- 
fit from the desert air, and purchased a large tract 
of desert land near Cheops, and constructed a small 
house, where he and his wife lived two years. Be- 

30 





A STREET IN CAIRO. 



OLD CAIRO AND NEW CAIRO 



lieving he was receiving much benefit from the sit- 
uation, he commenced building a sanatorium, but 
died before it was completed. 

Cairo has a perplexing question in drainage. The 
land is level, with no fall toward the river, and the 
river-current is very lazy at this point. There have 
been commissions and international commissions ; 
what the final result will be cannot yet be told. 

In the old part of Cairo, known as Old Cairo, 
the architecture is purely Arabic. The houses are 
crowded close together, the upper stories overhang- 
ing the lower ones. The streets are narrow, being 
only eight or ten feet wide, and into them the sun 
never shines. Looking straight up you can see a 
ragged line of sky, if it has not been shut off by an 
awning. In the new part of the city it is different. 
The Muski is thirty-two feet wide; it is a fash- 
ionable driveway as well as thoroughfare. "When 
officials, dignitaries, or people of high rank ride 
through it, two men gaily dressed, called sias, 
run in front of the carriage and clear the way. 
These men are trained for their calling, and their 
fleetness is something marvelous. There is a paint- 
ing by Gerome, in the Powers Gallery, Rochester, 
N. Y., that very faithfully describes a scene of this 
kind. 

In the crooked, narrow street leading to the ba- 
zaars in the old part of the town, the crowding was 

31 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



dreadful. We were obliged to leave the carriage 
at the entrance of the street, and I rode a little 
Egyptian donkey. He was fat and sleek — where 
he was allowed to be. His body and legs had been 
clipped in a sort of tattoo pattern, while the rest 
of the fur was left to grow full length. It would 
have done very well for the "greatest show on 
earth," but as a private individual I did not enjoy 
the distinction. However, I did not have much 
chance for reflection on appearances ; my mind was 
constantly occupied with the care of my skirts and 
lower limbs, that they might not be carried away 
by some other beast trying to push itself in the op- 
posite direction. The crowd of men, donkeys, and 
camels beggars description. 

The shops are square, box-like affairs, with the 
whole front open to the street. The tradesman sits 
tailor-fashion on a little raised platform across the 
front of the shop, and waits on you — when he can- 
not help it. The shelves are rilled with curious 
and beautiful Oriental merchandise — embroideries, 
jewelry in gold and silver, gorgeous fabrics in silk 
and wool, Moorish woodwork, and rugs, and rugs, 
and rugs ! The shopman's platform shuts him in, 
and you out. You do your bargaining from the 
outside — if you can command the situation long 
enough to bargain. 

The Assiout pottery in red and black is in great 



OLD CAIRO AND NEW CAIRO 



demand among tourists. The shapes of the vases 
and jugs are often very graceful, but it is difficult 
to see any beauty in the coloring. This pottery is 
made at Assiout, about fifty miles up the Nile. It 
is said that the Nile mud taken from certain places 
contains the correct proportions of different kinds 
of earth matter for the manufacture of pottery and 
brick. 

For the less crowded and better streets of the new 
part of the city I confess I have a liking. They 
are full of life and gay with colors — the green, red, 
and white turbans, the flowing robes in deep Ori- 
ental colors, the red balloon-trousers of the Turks. 
Talk about " living pictures " ! this is a living, mov- 
ing picture, with all the variety in dress — mind I 
say dress — of a masquerade. 

These Orientals carry themselves handsomely. 
Even the donkey-boys stand erect, and add dignity 
to their calling by not appearing to be ashamed of it. 

The Ezebekiyeh, or city park, is prettily laid out 
with shady walks and planted with ornamental 
trees. It is a common resort for rich and poor. 
Band concerts are often given there. 

The Arabian cafe is one of the features of Cairo 
and an outcome of the faith of Islam. The Moham- 
medan creed does not permit the use of fermented 
or intoxicating beverages, so the believers in that 
faith go to the cafe, and find in coffee and tobacco 

33 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



mild and pleasant stimulants. Tobacco was in- 
troduced into the East toward the end of the six- 
teenth century, hence after the Koran was written. 
It is claimed that since the introduction of the weed 
there has been an appreciable change in the char- 
acter of the Turks and Arabs, who use it immoder- 
ately. They have become more indolent, and now 
spend hours in placid enjoyment over their pipes 
that in earlier times were spent in profitable em- 
ployment. 

The use of coffee by the disciples of Mohammed 
has led to many discussions among pious and learned 
Mohammedans, some contending that it contains 
intoxicating qualities and is therefore unlawful to 
the Moslems, 



34 



V 



COPTS AND MOHAMMEDANS 

HE Copts, the early Christians of Egypt, 
number about four hundred thousand. 
They esteem themselves to be the true 
descendants of the ancient Egyptians. 
Through all the changing years they have remained 
faithful to their religion. They now use their own 
language only in the service of the church, Arabic 
being used for social and business purposes. In 
towns they are employed largely as scribes and 
bookkeepers. 

The state religion of Egypt is Mohammedan. 
Of the mosques of Cairo — and there are four hun- 
dred in all — I shall say but little. They are mostly 
dilapidated and always dirty. There are but few 
of them that time, neglect, and contentions have 
not deprived of their attractiveness, and one pities 
rather than admires them. There are a few, how- 
ever, of decent personal appearance. A good view 
of the exterior, in most instances, is entirely out of 

35 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 



the question, on account of the narrow streets in 
which they stand. From the citadel the eye never 
wearies of the beautiful architectural effects pro- 
duced by the many domes and minarets that rise 
to give an air of imperial majesty to the entire city 
of Cairo. 

Mosques are divided into two grades, and named 
according to their religious use and importance. 
Those in which the sermon is preached on Friday, 
the Mohammedan Sabbath, are called " Garni," and 
always have a court containing a fountain for reli- 
gious ablution. The lesser mosques, where prayers 
only are said, consist of one chamber, and are called 
" Zawiya." 

The most ancient mosque in Cairo is that of 
Garni Sultan Tulun. It dates its foundation from 
the year of our Lord 879. The most beautiful, yet 
dilapidated, is that of Garni Sultan Hassan, dating 
from 1356. It has been called the finest specimen 
of Arabian architecture in the world. One of its 
minarets measures two hundred and eighty feet, 
and is the highest in existence. It is a vast struc- 
ture, and of great strength. The Mamelukes often 
used this mosque as a place of defense, and here 
the last one met his death. 

The story is told that Sultan Hassan, while in a 
jealous mood, ordered the right hand of the archi- 
tect to be cut off, so that this structure should not 



COPTS AND MOHAMMEDANS 

be rivaled by another created by this great man of 
genius. It is probably all a fiction, but the story 
speeds on. The mosque of G-ami Mehemet Ali at 
the citadel is comparatively new and clean, having 
less than a century of dust and decay. The ma- 
sonry is entirely incrusted with Egyptian alabaster. 
It has one great dome, surrounded by four smaller 
ones, together with several minarets. Standing on 
a commanding position, it adds amazingly to the 
picture of the citadel, but it is big and assertive 
rather than beautiful. It lacks refinement in archi- 
tecture, and in detail the work impresses one as 
being coarse. 

Mehemet Ali had force of character and ambition, 
but not refinement of feeling, and his mosque par- 
takes of his characteristics ; and yet one has a sort of 
friendly feeling toward it from the fact that it is the 
first object to greet one in approaching Cairo, and 
with all its faults there is more to admire in the 
mosque than in the man that founded it. 

One Friday afternoon we decided to go and see 
the zikr, or devotions of the dervishes, a strange 
sect of Mohammedan monks. After a long ride in 
a dusty part of the city we came to a large, roughly 
constructed building. This was their mosque. In- 
side we found fifteen or twenty men, and one boy 
about eight years old. They were dressed in robes 
with very full skirts, and their hair was as long as 

37 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



that of women. When we entered they were stand- 
ing in a circle in the middle of the room. They 
soon began walking round and round. Then they 
squatted on their rugs and said prayers, and stood 
again. Their leader next took a position in the 
middle of the circle, and they all grunted and 
groaned and bowed toward him. 

At length the music began. All closed their 
eyes, and part of the performers commenced whirl- 
ing and part bowing, all keeping time with the 
music. Soon the movement of the music became 
more and more rapid, and more rapid still; so 
did the movements of the performers — a sort of 
breakdown. The spinning round and round was 
done with marvelous speed, so was the bowing. 
Their long tangles of hair fairly cracked like a whip 
as they jerked their heads forward and backward 
till they nearly touched the floor, and their spas- 
modic attempts at groans and grunts became an 
abrupt breaking up of groans and grunts. The 
drums rattled and the flutes piped until the circle 
in the center of the room was chaos and the noises 
confusion. This is sometimes carried on until de- 
lirium and frenzy are produced, and the actors fall 
and foam at the mouth. 

This afternoon, after a state of ecstasy had been 
attained, the music grew softer and softer, until the 
performers had regained a state of repose. There 

38 



COPTS AND MOHAMMEDANS 

are several orders of these dervishes. This zikr 
seemed to be a star performance of the howling 
and the dancing dervishes. " Skirt-dancers " would 
be quite as suitable a name, for their full skirts 
stood out as straight while spinning as those of a 
ballet-dancer, and the spinning was of the same 
speed. 

It does not matter what you call a performance, 
claimed to be religious or otherwise, that has not 
enough of common decency in it to command an 
atom of respect. It was the most barbarous per- 
formance I ever witnessed in the name of religion or 
anything else. They are a fanatical, ignorant sect, 
and claim that the zikr is performed to produce a 
state of oblivion to self and all things present, and 
leave the spirit free to commune with the spirits of 
the other world — I forgot to ask which spirit-world. 
Some have employments, but most of them are said 
to be worthless fellows who spend their time in 
performances of this kind, and beg their living. 



39 



VI 



THE SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO 

NE day, while walking in one of the 
narrow streets of Cairo, I heard a 
strange mingling of voices, which was 
so peculiar that I stopped and listened. 
It came from a door opening on the street, the same 
as a bazaar. On the floor sat a man, with a dozen 
or more boys gathered around him, rocking their 
bodies to and fro, while they kept up a jargon of 
vocalization. It excited my curiosity, and led me 
to ask our dragoman — who is supposed to be a 
fountain of reliable information — what all this hub- 
bub was about. He said it was a school, and the 
boys were studying aloud. As I saw no books, nor 
any other aids used in our schools, I asked their 
methods of instruction. This, he said, was a sort 
of primary school for the poor, and, in fact, a fin- 
ishing-school also. 

The boys are first taught their letters, then 
syllables ; after this the master writes on a slate or 

40 




THE SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO 

tablet simple words and names for them to copy ; 
then they are taught the names of God, of which 
there are a large number. Lastly, the boy learns the 
Koran. This was what they were repeating at that 
time. This rocking, bowing movement is attributed 
to the necessity for bowing the head whenever the 
name of Allah (God) is spoken, and it is easier for 
the children to keep up this even motion than to be 
on the alert for the coming of the name Allah. The 
habit often follows them through life. I have fre- 
quently seen men do this while reading a news- 
paper, and thought it some nervous disorder. 

The Koran contains one hundred and fourteen 
chapters, mostly short. To begin with, the first 
chapter is taught to the boys ; the next one studied 
is the last ; the next one is the next to the last, and 
so on, and the last chapter learned is the second 
chapter of the Koran. All these chapters must be 
perfectly committed to memory. When this is 
done the boys are through with this department. 
The masters receive very little recompense — a suit 
of clothes once a year, perhaps ten dollars from the 
endowment fund, and a few pennies from the pa- 
rents at the end of each week. 

The old university El Azhar, the university of 
Cairo, is situated in the ancient part of the city, 
near the bazaars. It was founded in the tenth cen- 
tury and was originally a mosque. It has of late 

41 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



years from seven to ten thousand students in atten- 
dance. Aside from Egypt, they come from all parts 
of the Mohammedan world, a large portion of the 
vast building being divided into chambers for the 
use of students from the different countries they 
represent. During the greatest prosperity of the 
institution the attendance numbered more than 
twenty thousand and employed three thousand 
professors — the largest university in the world. 

Student life at this university is very inexpensive, 
the most elaborate outfit consisting of a low desk, 
the Koran, a portfolio, pen and ink and an easel, a 
dish, and a rug, no chair or seat of any kind being 
used in the halls or the vast courts, open to the sky. 
The students squat in groups around the teacher, 
who sits on a straw mat, the groups filling the court, 
listening to their instructor, or reading aloud, or 
committing to memory. The students are allowed 
to bring in food, but the use of tobacco and coffee is 
prohibited. Many of them have no other home but 
the street, and, if they choose, may sleep on their 
rug where they study. There are no curtained, car- 
peted rooms, with beds, tables, and chairs, bookcase 
and shelves of bric-a-brac, and other things thought 
necessary for the American student. 

When a student enters the university, if he is not 
familiar with the Arabic language he first studies 
the Arabic grammar; then follow logic, rhetoric, 

42 



THE SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO 



composition, versification, elocution; then two 
courses in law, one religious, the other secular, as 
founded upon the Koran. The religious law com- 
prises the doctrines of Islam, the recognition of 
God's unity, and of Mohammed as his prophet, the 
practice of ablution, prayers and chants and pil- 
grimages ; the secular laws consist of those pertain- 
ing to daily life. 

Tuition in the university is free, the expenses 
being paid from funds raised for different purposes. 
The Mohammedans assume that the Mohammedan 
religion is safe so long as they have the educating 
of youths in their control. El Azhar is the strong- 
hold of Mohammedanism. Their methods never 
change. The students receive the same instruction 
that others have in the centuries past. Everything 
new in art or science is unheeded and despised. The 
sciences trouble them but little. Even mathematics 
and astronomy, that so thoroughly interested the 
Arabs in ancient times, have no place here. The 
Mohammedans are the same yesterday, to-day, and 
forever. They are " the faithful." 

Previous to 1873 girls in the families of the poor 
received no instruction, it not being thought worth 
while even to teach them their prayers. The in- 
stances were few where they could either read or 
write. Among the rich they were taught to read 
the Koran. It was not till the spring of 1873 that 

43 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



any plan for the education of Egyptian women 
proved successful. At this time the third wife of 
the khedive lent the influence of her position and 
gave freely from her own private purse to establish 
a school for girls in Cairo. An old palace was pur- 
chased and fitted up with accommodations for two 
hundred boarders. 

All girls from seven to twelve years of age, of all 
races, creeds, and classes, were to be admitted, tui- 
tion free, board free, lodging free, and clothes free. 
The course was to cover five years, and included 
reading and writing, arithmetic, geography, draw- 
ing, French, music, needlework, cookery, and gen- 
eral housework. But popular prejudice against the 
education of women was so great that it was with 
the utmost difficulty that pupils were at first gath- 
ered into the school. Then opposition began to break 
down, and the building was filled and another school 
started ; and the black cloud of ignorance which had 
hung for centuries over the women of Egypt began 
to rollback, and an era of promise began to brighten 
the "Egyptian darkness" of womanhood. 

I regret that I am only in possession of the numer- 
ical name of this interesting woman. 

All Mohammedan women owe much to the mem- 
ory of Tewfik. In conversation he once remarked : 
" The great thing is to educate our women. Family 
life is the greatest blessing on earth, and it is im- 



THE SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO 

possible unless both men and women are educated. 
It has been, and is, the aim of my life to achieve 
it. . . . In time I trust I shall be able to abolish 
the harem. I know the wretched consequences of 
polygamy. I have only one wife, and consider I 
have done well at that, for I am happy." This is 
saying much for a Mohammedan. The sentiment 
of this religion is especially oppressive to women, 
and shows an utter disregard for her welfare and 
happiness. It admits she has " a little soul," but so 
small it is not worth bothering about. 

Tewfik is credited with being a good father and 
husband, and fond of his home. His father Ismail's 
career was to him a living page of history, and no 
doubt a profitable object-lesson. Tewfik's personal- 
ity was pleasing ; he was strikingly handsome and 
of dignified bearing, genial to those near him, 
and kindly disposed to all; and if he had been a 
real ruler instead of viceroy he would have done 
much to ameliorate the condition of the Egyptian 
women. 

Tewfik was tenderly attached to his wife Emineh, 
and always treated her as an equal and, after his 
elevation to the throne, as a queen. She once gave 
him a bit of royal advice, and he was too much of 
a man ever to forget it. 

"When Arabi Pasha rebelled against the khedive 
and foreign control, Tewfik thought to take refuge 

45 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



on the Egyptian fleet. Emineh declared it would 
look like an act of cowardice for him to leave Egyp- 
tian soil, and stoutly opposed it. She argued that 
it would appear as though he were abandoning his 
throne and give the sultan an excuse for establish- 
ing a new dynasty. She advised Tewfik to take 
shelter in a villa in the suburbs of Alexandria, the 
approach to it being covered by British guns. This 
shrewdness so gained his confidence that he made 
her his first counselor during the remaining part of 
his life. 

Emineh keenly feels the dictation and supremacy 
of the British in Egypt, although deferential to 
British authority. Since the accession of her son 
Abbas Pasha she has been accused of trying to incite 
him to numerous acts of defiance against the foreign 
control of his kingdom. 

For the different countries of the Turkish empire 
the central government at Constantinople appoints 
a kadi, or judge, whose special pro vince is restricted 
to the laws pertaining to married persons as laid 
down in the Koran. This being a very lucrative 
office, it is usually given to favorites. The records 
of this court disclose the fact that polygamy does 
not promote happiness. 



46 



VII 



THE CITADEL AND THE MAMELUKES 

T was late in the afternoon when we 
slowly climbed the Mokattam to the 
citadel ; we were weary, and so were the 
horses. 

Cairo was done great justice pictorially when 
Saladin located the citadel and gave people a place 
of observation. From within the city can be seen 
only in piecemeal ; but from this elevation, taken as 
a whole, it is unique, it is beautiful. 

The citadel of Cairo is a vast fortress situated 
on a spur of the Mokattam, and is surrounded by a 
wall two hundred and fifty feet high and of vast 
solidity. The roadway leading up to it passes 
through a number of great stone gateways, and is 
so beautifully graded that carriages pass most of the 
distance along the winding ascent with comparative 
comfort, and industrious little donkeys discharge 
their freight at the very summit. 

It was built in the twelfth century by the famous 

47 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 

Saladin, and this especial site chosen from the fact 
that meat would keep sweet here for a much greater 
length of time than in any similar spot near Cairo. 
It certainly is important that meat keep well in a for- 
tress, but it is quite as important that the fortress 
keep well also. While the citadel, with its domed 
alabaster mosque, may make a beautiful picture, 
and the battlements afford a beautiful view of the 
city and surrounding country, the weakness of its 
position is apparent to the most unmilitary visitor. 
The summit of the Mokattam rises above it; and 
while the citadel commands the city, the Mokattam 
commands the citadel. Mehemet Ali in 1805 was 
quick to take advantage of this, and placing a bat- 
tery on the summit of the Mokattam, soon had pos- 
session of the citadel and the city. 

The citadel has a remarkable well, twelve feet 
square by two hundred and sixty-seven feet deep. 
It was excavated by Sultan Joseph, and has been 
given his name. People love to look at wonders, 
and now one is told that this is the veritable pit 
into which Joseph was cast by his brethren. It is 
a pity that circumstantial evidence is not more ac- 
commodating. 

It is restful at the citadel, after being in the nar- 
row, crowded streets, swarming with the old and 
young of the unadulterated East, and away from 
battered, crumbling magnificence and bedimmed, 

48 



THE CITADEL AND THE MAMELUKES 

tired-out Eastern splendor. From the battlements 
the view is charming. Below lies Cairo ; the domes 
and the minarets of its four hundred mosques rise 
in grandeur to inspire us. We have not really seen 
their bulging domes and delicately curved minarets 
before. Around the city and the expanding coun- 
try and through the latter runs the tortuous Nile. 
Outlined against the sky you count the gray pyra- 
mids, from Cheops at Gizeh to the Step pyramid at 
Sakkarah, and beyond them the vast desert. Villas 
and gardens dot the landscape. Prominent among 
them is Shubra, the earthly paradise of Mehemet 
Ali ; here he lived in luxury, and here at evening 
he sailed on the gem-like lake, made beautiful with 
glittering lights. At Shubra Mehemet Ali departed 
this life and entered the Mohammedan heaven. 

We remained at the citadel till sunset ; everybody 
that can does. The evening is beautiful, and the 
sun in this land rarely fails you. The sunset colors 
harmonize a picture as no noonday sun can. At 
noon we see everything as it is, but sunset is art in 
nature. This may seem contradictory, yet it is 
true ; for it scumbles and harmonizes and softens a 
landscape, and makes it to appear more beautiful. 

When I was down in the dirty city I thought I 
would never say anything about it. It was intensely 
interesting from its human side, but in a way that 
is not pleasant to talk about. But up here at the 

49 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

evening hour, when you neither see the dirt nor 
smell it, the city is beautiful, and, for once, look at 
the mosques, with their bulging domes contrasted 
with their slim, dainty, curved minarets, and dare 
to say that they are not inspiring. I believe the best- 
regulated heart will beat a little faster because of 
such a sight. But no exquisite pleasure is of long 
endurance. 

The sun, like a great golden ball, touches the 
horizon and rolls on. Another day is done, and 
enters the eternity of time. The blind muezzin 
feels his way high up the slender minaret, and from 
its top calls the people to prayer. A faint mist 
marks the course of the Nile. The evening shadows 
come gently down and dissolve the outline of the 
pyramids, and, not a little sad, we enter the mosque 
of Mehemet Ali. 

The custodian is lighting the myriads of little 
twinkling lamps that hang suspended from the 
ceiling ; the floor is covered with expensive rugs ; 
singly or in small groups, men are busy with their 
devotions, some bowing, some squatting, and others 
prostrating themselves. It is a solemn and impres- 
sive sight if rightly considered ; if not, it is absurd. 

I have a horror of the memory of men whose his- 
tory is written in blood ; and this mosque, with its 
gorgeous rugs and hanging lamps and prostrated 
worshipers, is a crawly place, after all. Mehemet 

50 



THE CITADEL AND THE MAMELUKES 

Ali's mosque smells of blood. In imagination I 
picture the Mamelukes in gay procession, and then 
in ghastly death. Whatever their faults, I have a 
liking for men who, as purchased slaves or captives 
of war, can, inch by inch, rise above their oppres- 
sors and at last seat themselves on their throne; 
and when I think of the base treachery and brutal 
murder to the last man by the builder of this so- 
called "house of God" I am horror-stricken. To 
meet a foe in open conflict is honorable ; but to in- 
vite as guests the whole lineage of a dynasty, and 
close the gate upon them, and begin a merciless 
butchery of a peculiarly brave people, is not to be 
too readily pardoned. 

Whoever speaks of Mehemet Ali and the citadel 
should speak of the massacre of the Mamelukes ; an 
act so blackly base should never be let die, but 
kept before the world as a lesson of the deathless- 
ness of the sin of treachery ; and while here at the 
citadel, and all things seem real, I wish to say a 
word about this strange period in the history of 
Egypt — almost the Egypt of to-day. 

The Mamelukes (the Arabic name for slaves) were 
Caucasians, taken captives in war or purchased as 
slaves for the sultan, and formed a part of the 
mounted soldiery of Egypt. They were noted for 
their bravery, agility, and generalship. They at 
length became complete masters of the country, and 

51 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



set up a throne and government, which they eon- 
trolled for five hundred and sixty years. They had 
no birthright succession, but wisely chose their 
chief ruler from the brave of their number. They 
were dethroned by Selim I., and a Turkish pasha 
was placed by the Porte over Egypt. 

After the Mamelukes were dethroned by Selim I. 
they still possessed the superiority, and an indomi- 
table love of freedom that would not down, and 
indirectly ruled Egypt, and continued to rule it 
until Mehemet Ali conceived a plan to rid himself 
of this troublesome people. 

The plan was so base as to be beyond the com- 
prehension of any one, and they fell into his snare. 
It was this : In 1811 Mehemet Ali planned an ex- 
pedition against the "Wannabees, who had taken 
possession of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina ; 
and there was to be a ceremony, at the citadel, of 
investing Toosoon, Mehemet Ali's favorite son, who 
had command of the expedition, with a pelisse. 
This was to be a ceremonial of great splendor, and 
all persons of high position were invited to the royal 
palace, and especial care was taken to have all the 
Mamelukes in Cairo present. 

At the appointed time, clad in rich attire and 
gaily mounted on horses of purest Arabian blood, 
they proceeded, four hundred in all, to the citadel. 
The ceremonies were all performed, and high spirits 

52 



THE CITADEL AND THE MAMELUKES 

and good feeling prevailed. After partaking of 
coffee, the Mamelukes mounted their chargers, 
forming in procession, and marched into the narrow 
alley which used to be the main approach to the 
citadel. They were preceded and followed by the 
pasha's troops. The advance troops passed out at the 
great entrance-gate, and instantly the gate closed 
on the Mamelukes, and without a moment's warn- 
ing they were hopelessly imprisoned in a narrow 
lane, either side being built up with high walls and 
towers and lofty buildings. Then the command 
passed along to slaughter every Mameluke within 
the inclosure, and from front and rear, from wall, 
tower, and housetop, the deadly rattle of musketry 
began. The Mamelukes threw off their outer robes, 
and fought hand to hand in a vain attempt to force 
their way back, with a hope of escaping by some 
other way ; but the carnage went on till the road- 
way was blocked with dead men and dead horses. 
Then came the stillness of death. The Mamelukes 
had all perished, save one, in this carnival of death. 
From a break in the wall one leaped from the bat- 
tlement to the moat. The horse was killed, but the 
rider escaped unhurt, and fled to the mosque of Sul- 
tan Hassan, but was overtaken by the soldiers and 
there despatched. A blood-stain marks the spot. 

The firing at the citadel was the signal for the 
slaughter of every Mameluke throughout Egypt. 

53 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



The wretched work went on until over twelve hun- 
dred, besides those at the citadel, perished. After 
the extermination, the government had acted its 
part in tragedy so well, it tried farce by confiscat- 
ing wealth that there was none to claim ; and when 
all was over Mehemet Ali had added another bloody 
page to Egyptian history. 

The beautiful view of the surrounding country, 
and the yet more beautiful sunset, and Mehemet 
Ali's mosque of alabaster, and the worshiping people 
— all cannot dismiss from our minds the revolting 
scene of horror once enacted within this stronghold, 
and my heart sickens at the ghastly pictures of the 
imagination that force themselves upon me. 

It is growing late ; we must go, and we are glad 
to go. We are not afraid of the dark or of ghosts ; 
but we do not enjoy the pictures. 



54 



VIII 



THE GOING OUT OF PILGRIMS 

T the foot of the citadel is Place Runie- 
leh. It is from this place the pilgrims 
each year start for Mecca. I have gath- 
ered a few notes from different sources 
in regard to this going out, and believe they will be 
of interest to others as well as myself. 

In olden times, pilgrimages, with the Arabs, were 
a fulfilment of a vow, and usually terminated with 
a sacrificial feast. While under the vow the ob- 
server was sworn to abstinence from certain plea- 
sures or customs, such as hunting, fishing, cutting 
or combing the hair. The pilgrimages of to-day 
unquestionably had their origin in these ancient 
customs. The Mohammedan year is a lunar year, 
and there is a lunar month of fasting, called Rama- 
dan. The month begins at the first sight of the new 
moon. From daybreak to sunset throughout the 
month eating and drinking are absolutely prohib- 
ited. As the Arabic year is lunar, and therefore 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 

shorter than ours, in the course of time this fast 
runs through all the seasons, and its observance 
is severely felt in summer, when great suffering is 
caused from thirst. 

This month of fasting is succeeded by that of 
Shawwal, the first three days of which are called 
the lesser Beiram, a minor festival. The object of 
this festival is that of rejoicing that the fast has 
terminated, and to round up this thanksgiving the 
ceremonies of the pilgrimage begin. 

The departure of the pilgrims from Place Bume- 
leh is the occasion of great festivities. The women 
put on their gayest attire, and every Mohammedan, 
as far as possible, is expected to spend the day on 
the street. 

Not long ago I saw a painting describing one of 
these departures. It was really a festive scene, 
rich in color and alive with action. The procession 
was led by an escort of soldiery, followed by camels 
decked out with gay trappings; then came the 
different detachments of pilgrims carrying banners, 
each detachment headed by a band of music ; then, 
last in the procession, was a wooden structure, pyr- 
amidal in shape, and covered with rich velvets and 
beautiful embroideries. I wondered if it could in 
any way represent the carrying of the ark, but was 
told it was a mafanal, a symbol of royalty, and con- 
tained the Mswecli and the curtain for the Kaaba. 

56 



THE GOING OUT OF PILGRIMS 

The kiswech is a cover for the Kaaba, the inner 
sanctuary of the mosque at Mecca. This cover is 
newly made every year at Constantinople, at the 
expense of the sultan, and sent in pieces to Cairo, 
where it is carried, with great circumstance, to the 
citadel, and sewn together and lined. It is made 
of black brocade, with a broad, handsome band 
running through the center, on which are inscrip- 
tions from the Koran, worked in gold letters. There 
is also a rich curtain for the door of the sanctuary. 
These are carried to Mecca by the pilgrims. 

Before Mohammed's time the Kaaba was a pagan 
temple where the Arabs prayed and offered sacri- 
fice. Mohammed's grandfather was custodian of 
this temple, and at Abu-Cobeis, a little east of Mecca, 
Mohammed was born. After he became prophet he 
fled to Medina, and died, and was there entombed. 
Hence these are the holy cities of Islam. The Mo- 
hammedans have two kinds of pilgrimages — one of 
devotion and one of obligation. Those of devotion 
are numerous ; but there is really only one of obli- 
gation, and that is to visit Mecca, which is the na- 
tional sanctuary of the faithful. Not half of the 
pilgrims visit Mohammed's tomb at Medina, though 
the distance from Mecca is not very great. 

Before the new religion was founded Mecca was 
noted for its fairs and religious feasts, which, curi- 
ously enough, occurred at the same season. Mo- 

57 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



hammed always made his following easy ; he never 
went very far from those who had gone before. 
Possibly he was not blind to the money advantage of 
this arrangement, and merely changed the name and 
convening of these assemblies to further his cause. 

Cairo is not alone in this great yearly going out. 
It is general from all over Moslemdom. It is the 
great event of the Moslem's life to visit Mecca and 
pass over the route the prophet followed on his last 
pilgrimage to that place. Eeally the greatest inter- 
est lies outside of Mecca, in places made sacred by 
the presence of the prophet. In short, the routine 
is this: Before entering Mecca the pilgrim lays 
aside his usual dress and dons a scanty attire con- 
sisting of two pieces of cloth wound around the 
person in a manner dictated by ritual. He next 
marches around the Kaaba, enters it, and kisses 
the black stone. 

The Moslems claim that this stone was given by 
G-abriel to Abraham. It is a small affair, and is so 
placed that it can be conveniently kissed by a per- 
son of average height. The pilgrim then proceeds 
to Safa. Safa is not far from Mecca, and consists 
of an uncertain space around a small hill called the 
Hill of Mercy. This ceremony consists in standing 
on Safa on the 9th of the pilgrimage month, and 
shouting " Labbeyka ! " and reciting prayers till 
the sun goes down. 

58 



THE GOING OUT OF PILGRIMS 

Then there is a mad rush to Muzdalif a, where the 
night prayer is said and the night spent. At dawn 
another stand is made around the mosque of Muzda- 
lifa. This is the day of sacrifice, and has four com- 
mands : First, to cast seven stones at a cairn at the 
east end of Mina. These stones are supposed to be 
cast at the devil. Second, to slay a victim at Mina 
and partake of a sacrificial meal. Part of the flesh 
must be given to the poor or preserved. Third, to 
be shaved. Fourth, go to Mecca and perform the 
tawdf and sWy, then return to Mina. These are called 
the days of Mina. At the end of the month, or the 
beginning of the next, the pilgrims return to Cairo, 
and enter the city by the Bab-en-Nasr, or " Gate of 
the Help of God," where they are received amid the 
blare of trumpets and roar of cannon. After all 
this the pilgrim is as pure and sinless as a new- 
born babe. He wears a green turban, and is called 
by the coveted name hagg, or pilgrim. 

It is fast becoming known that Mecca is one of 
the worst cholera-breeding and cholera-spreading 
places in the world, and people of all creeds are 
taking an active interest in these vast gatherings, 
quite different, however, from that felt by the 
faithful. 

The usual population of Mecca is about fifty 
thousand, but during Dhu'l Haggi, the pilgrimage 
month, it has an addition of from seventy to eighty 

59 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



thousand. These vast crowds sleep in the streets, 
and live as best they can, and at best in a most un- 
sanitary condition. The city is situated in a valley, 
has a torrid climate, and not a rod of sewerage, and 
not even good surface drainage. The sewage and 
offal are discharged into pits, where they ferment 
and smell to heaven. Mecca has a tolerably good 
supply of water, brought from a distance through 
an aqueduct. This water is free to citizens, but a 
price is asked of strangers. This naturally leads to 
economy in its use, and results in uncleanliness. 
A still more dangerous feature must be added. 
There is a well, called Hagar's well, a holy well, that 
is pollution itself, being contaminated by the foul 
soil of the city. From this well each pilgrim drinks 
at least once. 

Every Mohammedan is under religious obligation 
to visit Mecca, or attempt to visit it, once during 
his lifetime; and crowds move on to Mecca, and 
carry from there cholera infection to the Continent, 
and perhaps five continents. It is estimated that 
sixty-five per cent, of all who visit Mecca never reach 
home. They die of cholera and other causes inci- 
dental to their journey. There is a cemetery of 
great extent in Mecca, filled with these victims. A 
Christian detected in Mecca would meet with in- 
stant death. 



GO 



IX 



THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 

NE beautiful morning in February we 
drove out to the pyramids of Gizeh. 
There is a good carriage-road all the 
way, shaded by acacia-trees. Our ride 
was a pleasant and fragrant one. All Egypt that 
morning seemed to have gone to clover. The 
fields were red with it; the camels and donkeys 
were carrying huge loads of it, and shaking out its 
fragrance as they went ; and with it the markets 
overflowed. A German officer, who was taking a 
military look at the country, said that animals in 
Egypt are fed with green clover for six weeks in 
the spring to prepare them to endure the heat of 
summer. 

The pyramids — and there are a large number of 
them — are always located among mummy-pits, and 
are situated on the west bank of the Nile, which 
was called by the ancients the " Eegion of Death." 
The rocky cliff on which they stand is about one 

61 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 

hundred feet above the Nile, and consequently above 
its inundation. 

The pyramids and the Sphinx are believed to be, 
by most Egyptologists, the oldest monuments in 
Egypt. Many are the conjectures as to their origin 
and intended use. Some of these conjectures are 
too foolish to mention ; but most writers are of the 
opinion that they were intended for royal monu- 
ments and royal sepulchers. A few — and Proctor 
is one of them — believe they were not built en- 
tirely for these purposes, but also for astronomical 
uses ; and Proctor claims proof in the fact that the 
ancients made great use of astronomical knowledge 
in reading the signs of the heavens as governing 
their own destinies, a matter of deep importance to 
them ; and he claims substantial proof in their posi- 
tion and mathematical construction in relation to 
astronomy. 

I know very little about the "pyramidal inch" 
or the " twelve houses of heaven," but I was greatly 
interested in reading an article written by Proctor 
in defense of his position. No inscription has been 
found to cast any light on the subject. 

In ancient times astrology was considered a true 
science, and was generally believed in by all nations 
excepting the Greeks. It was never in any way re- 
garded as a superstition. 

Astrology as a science was founded on the sup- 

62 



THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 



position that the heavenly bodies influenced the 
affairs of men and nations. The ancients divided 
astronomy into two parts — natural and judicial. 
That part of the science that predicted the move- 
ments of the heavenly bodies was called natural 
astronomy; judicial was that part that related to 
their influence upon man. 

By common consent, the two branches have 
been separated, and natural astronomy studied 
under the name of astronomy, and astrology, com- 
monly speaking, is understood as treating of the 
effect of the constellations upon man, as believed 
by the ancients. The astrologer divided the zodiac 
into twelve divisions or signs, or, as they were 
named, " twelve houses of heaven." The four ages 
of man had each three houses. Each of the triple 
series was composed of a cardinal, a succeeding, 
and a declining house. Disastrous signs predomi- 
nated over auspicious ones, but astrologers claimed 
they possessed the power of providing against evil 
influences, and could aid in bringing good ones to 
bear. I believe palmistry now makes similar claims. 

The ancient Egyptians were constantly reading 
the heavens and casting horoscopes or nativities. 
Above all, the monarch must have this matter near 
at heart, and give the astrologer every possible 
means of aiding him in controlling unfavorable 
conditions. 

63 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



Cheops is the greatest and most easily reached 
of the pyramids, being at Grizeh, only six miles 
from Cairo; so we will write of Cheops only. It 
may be well to stop and consider what it meant to 
bnild this high and mighty structure. To begin, 
its base covers more than thirteen acres ; its origi- 
nal height was four hundred and eighty feet nine 
inches. It is of solid masonry, and many of the 
stones are from twenty to thirty feet long, and 
average from three to five feet in height. They are 
evenly cut, and put together with mortar. History 
says four hundred thousand men were employed, 
and twenty years consumed, in its construction. 
Besides this, ten years were spent on a causeway 
on which to move the stone to its place of desti- 
nation. 

Cheops, seen in the distance or in approaching 
it, does not impress one greatly with its grandeur. 
It is not till you stand at its base, and look up, that 
it becomes stupendous. When you see the huge 
blocks of stone, piled up step fashion, then you 
begin to comprehend its size. The tiers of stone 
were originally filled in, and covered with polished 
slabs of granite in a smooth incline of fifty degrees 
from apex to base. This granite cover, together 
with great quantities of the construction stones, 
was carried, years ago, to Cairo for building pur- 
poses. The second pyramid — there are three at 

6-1 



THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 



Grizeh — has a fragment of the cover still remain- 
ing near the top. 

I confess at first to not being over-anxious to 
begin a struggle with Cheops ; the undertaking was 
too large ; but I encouraged myself with the success- 
ful climbing and exploiting I had done in other 
countries, and decided not to be humiliated by a 
pagan tomb. Besides the size of the undertaking, 
there were discouraging circumstances. A large 
number of both gentlemen and ladies who had 
begun the ascent had given it up and were return- 
ing ; and of all the red-faced women I met that day, 
but one had been to the apex of Cheops. She was 
a German lady, and said it was violent exercise, but 
she felt well repaid. 

Before engaging our Bedouin helpers we took a 
little time to speculate on the best way and means 
of making the ascent. The men were anxious, and 
constantly urging us on ; but work well begun is 
half done, and we proposed to have a good start. 
The chief of the squad, tired of the wait, changed 
his tactics. He turned to us with such a melting 
Oriental smile, and spreading his burnoose on a 
great stone, smoothed it out, and, with gallantry 
that would have extinguished Lord Chesterfield, 
invited us to sit ; then, asking the time, he sprang 
onto the side of the pyramid, and ran like a mouse 
to the top, returning in just nine minutes, bright 

65 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

and fresh, and asked another trial, that he might 
break his own record. Instead of another chance he 
received a fee, and after a little bargaining and many 
beautiful promises, five strong, swarthy Bedouins 
were engaged (three were to look especially after 
my safety and give assistance), and the struggle 
began. 

I and my attendants went in advance, and 
Dr. Palmer and his attendants followed. It was 
an awkward piece of business. If I could find the 
least toe-hold it was all very well; when I could 
not, I placed my foot against a stone where a step 
ought to have been, and two pulled and one pushed 
me. This went on for some time, until at last I 
came near being quartered by their efforts ununited 
with mine. I had attempted to scale a stone four 
or five feet in height, without the slightest projec- 
tion or crevice anywhere. After the exploit I gath- 
ered myself together and took a vacation. "While 
doing so the Bedouins began a clamor for bakshish. 

I refused them, and said to their leader, who spoke 
a little English, that unless we all helped together, 
by the time we were at the top there would not be 
enough of me left to collect a fee on. I had been 
to sea, and had resources as well as courage. I had 
heard the sailors call for all to lift together. Their 
phraseology was not well adapted to my use, so I 
made a call of my own, and said, " Now we must 

66 



THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 



begin to climb again ; and you must neither push 
nor pull until I say, ' Boost.' " The word amused 
them, but they obeyed ; and it worked so well they 
thought they saw a corner on fee stocks. 

They did not jam or throw up hats, for they did 
not have any, but at the next resting-place put up 
another hurried bid for bakshish, which I again re- 
fused. They began to sulk, and offered no assis- 
tance. I said to them, "If you do not move on, 
when that gentleman comes up with us I will ask 
him to push every soul of you off the pyramid." I 
could not see that any one of them turned pale, but 
they realized that they were losing a good deal of 
time and not getting any money, and we passed on. 

Our next toilsome climb brought us to the top. 
It is a terrible climb; I dared not look up or 
down. To look up discourages ; to look down ap- 
pals ; and at the top an almost overpowering feel- 
ing of vastness and height came over me. I felt 
no security until I was in the center of the space, 
which is about thirty feet square. I had no sooner 
rested myself than the Bedouins again began teas- 
ing for money. I said to them, " You have helped 
me up bravely, and if you help me down safely I 
will remember you ; but not a penny here." Then 
I must sing for them. This was worse than the raid 
on my pocketbook, and I begged off; but no, I 
must sing. Not having my notes, I was a good 

67 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

deal flurried; and I could think of but one tune 
which I knew that came within range of my voice, 
and that was a much-loved national air, known in 
America as "Yankee Doodle." I did not quite 
get the pitch at first, but I climbed to it. I think 
I was embarrassed by the sight of the top of a hat 
I saw coming nearer and nearer ; but I persevered, 
and sang the entire composition. This was my first 
appearance as an artist ; but I had everything to 
encourage me — marked attention and thundering 
applause. 

Disposing of the coin-and-image-peddlers, I re- 
freshed myself with a glass of Nile water ; and find- 
ing I had become enough accustomed to the eleva- 
tion to dare to stand and look around, I began to 
comprehend the grandeur of the situation. Such 
a view — such a boundless view ! Two great deserts, 
broad, grand, and merciless, reach out as far as the 
eye can see ; along the edge of the first the gray old 
pyramids ; the Nile winding its way to the sea, its 
banks on either side fringed with palms and dotted 
with villas and hamlets ; luxuriant fields of growing 
grain; Cairo in the distance, with its turrets and 
domes, and near by it the Mokattam Hills, where 
sleep the dead, royal and plebeian ; at our feet the 
silent, solemn Sphinx. It was a strangely diversi- 
fied and stirring picture, and there is no replica. 

The descent is more easily made and in much 

68 



THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 



less time, but there is greater fear of falling. The 
entrance to the pyramid is forty or fifty feet from 
the ground. We made a halt here, but with no in- 
tention of entering farther than to obtain a general 
idea of the interior. The guides stood waiting, 
torches in hand, and were over-persuasive ; but no 
amount of persuasion would have induced me to 
have mopped along that low, narrow, hot passage- 
way, to find nothing at last but a bare stone cham- 
ber with a solitary sarcophagus in it. The shaft 
at the entrance is but three feet eleven inches high 
and three feet five inches wide ; farther on, less. One 
must stoop or crawl, and in some places must crawl 
anyhow. The least movement raises the dust, which 
is as light as ashes. The temperature is somewhere 
in the eighties, and the heat and smoke from the 
torches do not improve it any. It is at best a toil- 
some, disgusting undertaking, with precious small 
pay. 

There was one incident in connection with the 
ascent that was quite remarkable in a " cloudless 
land." When we began to climb, the sun was shin- 
ing with terrific heat on those thirteen acres of 
already hot stone. It seemed almost like defiance 
to attempt the ascent. A few minutes later there 
came up from the Nile a hazy cloud that covered 
us during the ascent and descent. It seemed like 
a special providence. 

69 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

Our feet had no sooner touched the ground than 
the English-speaking assistant asked for money, and 
they all got it. But that was not all they wanted ; 
they insisted that the next time we came to the 
pyramid we should bring them presents. We felt 
uncertain about the next visit, but asked each what 
he would like. One borrowed a pocket-knife 
from another, and indicated that he would like a 
knife. The second borrowed a white burnoose, and 
indicated, in sign language, that he had none, and 
felt very cold after the exercise on the pyramid. 
The last one made use of his English. He said he 
wanted a silk handkerchief — not a little one, but a 
great big one. He had a handsome daughter, and 
wanted it for her to tie on her head. We promised 
that, if we ever came again, we would bring the 
presents. Then they ran off in search of new 
victims. 

The Sphinx comes next in the category of monu- 
ments of the lotus land, in which " time forgets its 
date." It is thought by some to be older than the 
pyramids. It represents the strange aspect of the 
head of a man and the body of a recumbent lion. 
The idea undoubtedly was to symbolize intelligence 
and great strength. The face is somewhat mu- 
tilated, but still retains its impressiveness — so 
much so, one is inclined to feel it could speak, if it 
would, and put an end to its well-kept mysteries. 

70 



THE PYRAMIDS AND SPHINX 

The figure is of colossal size, — in length one hun- 
dred and forty feet, in height sixty, — and cut from 
the native rock, of which it is now part and parcel. 

The sphinx placed at the entrance of a temple 
"was a symbol of mystery. The mysteries, being 
known to but few, were often made use of to im- 
press the unlearned. The sacred books, which con- 
tained the mysteries of religion as well as the laws 
of government, were kept in the temples. They 
were written in symbols and enigmas, which veiled 
their meaning and impressed the common people, 
while it left them helplessly a tool of priestcraft. 

The ride back to town in the cool of the afternoon 
was delightful. The road from Cairo to the Great 
Pyramid is quite a fashionable driveway, and we 
met a number of smart-looking turnouts, one from 
the palace of the khedive, containing three ladies 
dressed in black, white gauze veils covering their 
faces from their eyes down. Our dragoman said 
one was the khediva. I did not feel quite so certain. 
These fellows are all very anxious you should see 
just what you wish to see. I was told that the 
khediva had her society ways as well as other peo- 
ple, and received ladies on certain days. They 
were entertained with music and refreshed with 
coffee and sweetmeats. 



71 



X 



AN EXCURSION INTO THE DESERT 

HERE is no physical condition in nature 
I had so much desired to see as the great, 
unconquerable Desert of Sahara, and I 
was possessed with an ambition to jour- 
ney with a caravan. This was impossible, so the 
next most satisfactory arrangement that could be 
made was an excursion ; and then my imagination 
conjured a white Syrian dromedary, with a " long 
slender neck of swan-like curvature, the head wide 
between the eyes, tapering to a muzzle which a 
lady's bracelet might have almost clasped," a bridle 
covering the forehead with scarlet fringe and gar- 
nishing the throat with pendent brazen chains, each 
ending with a tinkling silver bell. 

The day of the excursion was mild and in every 
way favorable to the enterprise. After standing 
around in the sand for a half -hour, three or four 
camels were brought to us, and camel-drivers 
enough to man a caravan. After the usual bargain- 

72 




AN EXCURSION INTO THE DESERT 



ing two camels were selected. It was not so easy 
to select the drivers; they were all possessed of 
such amazingly good qualities, and they had the 
proof thereof. Our camels were of the ordinary 
sort — no white Syrian dromedaries. There was a 
thin scarlet fringe across the forehead, an ugly 
saddle from which dangled a few stray faded, 
matted woolen tassels. This was a terrible shrink- 
age from all my previous ambitions. 

It is a blessing to us that our imaginations are not 
expensive. But our camel-drivers were genuine 
Bedouins with flashing black eyes ; and after over- 
coming my pride, which had been sadly damaged, 
and my disappointment, which was hard to bear, I 
began to make friends with my camel, and I learned 
to like him. The driver tapped him on the head 
with his stick, and without gurgling or groaning he 
folded his legs and came down, and I climbed into 
the saddle — no one-sided torture. When the camel 
came up, I came up with him as steadily as though 
I had belonged to his hump. I do not know just 
what occurred behind me, but I saw the gentle- 
man of the party gathering himself up out of the 
sand. Everything being in readiness, with " noise- 
less tread" and a swaying movement we began 
our camel-ride in the desert. It was grand — the 
exhilarating atmosphere, the blue firmament over 
us, the vast desert spreading away to the horizon, 

73 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



where blue firmament and gray desert meet in soft 
embrace. 

One must pause and think a long time before 
he can even vaguely comprehend the vastness of 
the desert that stretches from the Persian G-ulf to 
the Atlantic Ocean, and then imagine, for a mo- 
ment, a tropical sun pouring down on an area of 
upward of two million five hundred thousand square 
miles of sand, the heat at times forcing the mercury 
to 120° F. — even more than 120°, but we will be 
moderate. 

A desert not seen is very hard of comprehension. 
About the most that young people carry with them 
from their early studies in geography is that it is " a 
vast sandy plain, destitute of vegetation," and that 
Sahara is the greatest in extent, and on the map is 
colored yellow, and is located in Africa; but the 
multitude of names given to its divisions are 
scarcely remembered, unless it be the Libyan Desert, 
on the edge of which the Great Pyramid is situated. 
Every one remembers the Great Pyramid, because 
it is great and mysterious. 

The descriptions many times given by travelers 
are confusing. They speak of an ocean of sand, 
and in the same breath of scorched grass and leaf- 
less trees. The Bedouins, the native inhabitants, 
divide deserts into two kinds. The first they call 
wilderness, being in a degree fertile, crossed by 

74 



C/5 



AN EXCURSION INTO THE DESERT 



valleys or watercourses, furnishing pasture for 
flocks and herds, and where in the dry season may 
sometimes be found scorched trees and grass. The 
second they call the atmour, the desert proper ; it 
is without a blade of grass, a bush, tree, or shrub 
of any kind ; no green thing to be seen — " wholly 
destitute of vegetation." The hot winds in the dry 
season have scorched neither trees nor grass, for 
there are neither trees nor grass to scorch. Another 
misleading impression is the " ocean of sand." This 
so-called ocean of sand is broken and diversified by 
beds of gravel and rocky sections of sand, and cut 
through by deep ravines. No water-level of sand ; 
far from it. 

Sand-storms are the great dread of the traveler. 
They are caused by the sun heating the sand, some- 
times to such a degree that it will nearly blister the 
feet to touch it. The air is also very hot and dry ; 
the heated air rises, and cooler air rushes in to take 
its place. This causes a whirling motion of the air. 
This may be going on in a great many different 
places and at different degrees of heat. These cur- 
rents increase in force and rapidity until, by suction, 
they draw up the sand, and the commotion becomes 
general ; the sun is obscured as in the approach of a 
cyclone, but instead of the air being filled with ruins 
and rubbish, as in inhabited countries, it is filled 
with hot sand. 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



A very interesting account of a sand-storm is 
given by one who experienced it. I cannot give it 
literally, but nearly so. At first there was a little 
misty-looking cloud seen in the direction of the 
wind ; it grew larger and larger, blacker and blacker, 
till it dimmed the sun and then obscured it. The 
air grew terribly hot ; the wind was furious, and the 
masses of sand that were whirled about were such 
that it seemed as if the whole desert, for miles 
around, had been lifted into the air and was being 
scattered as far as the wind could scatter it. The 
whirling clouds were swept on by a southerly wind 
which increased every moment. The heat grew 
more and more intense. The camels were uneasy, 
and evidently realized their peril. The storm every 
moment increased in fury. Terror seized men and 
animals. A halt was ordered. The camels lay 
down, stretched out their necks in the sand, and 
buried their heads; riders and drivers lay down 
beside them, and covered their faces with their tar- 
booshes to keep the particles of sand from smother- 
ing them. The storm is usually of short duration, 
lasting perhaps two or three hours, then goes as it 
comes : the wind diminishes and finally ceases, the 
sky clears, and the sun again shines. 

These storms have been a destroyer of caravans 
and a conqueror of armies. There is an account of 
a large caravan of nearly five hundred men and two 

76 



AN EXCURSION INTO THE DESERT 



thousand camels being lost, and no traces of them 
found for a number of months. Finally they were 
discovered by the accident of another storm having 
blown away the sand sufficiently to expose their 
dried and withered remains. 

The use of steam on the Nile and the extending 
of railroads have made the incoming of great cara- 
vans in northern Africa a rare occurrence. Occa- 
sionally a straggling line of worn and exhausted 
men and camels may be seen. The chieftain heads 
the line, decked in bright colors and flowing robes, 
and carrying firearms; he sustains his position as 
leader, but, like the rest of the men and the animals, 
he makes a sorry picture. Next to the chief come 
the blooded animals of the expedition — passenger- 
camels ; behind them the freight-camels with great, 
huge burdens of merchandise. It is picturesque ; 
but the pictures I have seen are more pleasing than 
the reality. 

Tent stories of the desert are many ; they seem to 
be the Arab's way of transmitting history. There 
is a very pretty child's story that is told from father 
to son, generation after generation. It is about a 
horse after battle. The story is this : 

u T} iere was war between two tribes, and a bloody 
battle ensued, in which one of the chiefs was 
wounded and taken prisoner. He was bound hand 
and foot, and left on the ground to die. His men 

77 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



had all been killed, and his horse, which was 
as dear to him as any of his tribe, was gone too. 
Although suffering from pain and loss of blood, he 
did not forget his horse. While he lay on the 
ground, faint and moaning, his faithful horse, which 
had been tethered near by, neighed. The chief, 
with the greatest effort, wriggled along the ground 
like a worm till he reached the horse, and untied 
the rope with his teeth. ' Poor friend,' he said, 
' what will you do among the Turks 1 You will be 
shut up within four walls under a roof — you who 
have been used to the free air of the desert. No 
child will feed you from its hand any more. They 
will not care for you nor understand you. I am 
afraid they will even beat you sometimes. If I am 
to be a slave, you at least may be free. Gk> back to 
our tent and tell my wife that your master will die. 
Put your head again under the folds of our tent 
and lick the hands of my dear children.' But the 
horse would not leave the chief, and stood with his 
head over his master, as though contriving a way 
to carry him home. At last he took his clothes be- 
tween his teeth, and started at full gallop for their 
tenting-ground. It was a long, long way, and the 
horse was weak and hungry ; and when he arrived 
at the tent and laid his master down, the horse 
dropped dead." 

There is something grand in the free, brave life 

78 



AN EXCURSION INTO THE DESERT 



of the desert. My experience in the desert was one 
of the most interesting features of my visit to 
Egypt, and, short as it was, it began to create in 
me a contempt for " the dwellers among bricks." 

We have read and heard much of camels and 
have always felt a great interest in them. They 
are of two species : the Bactrian camel, with two 
humps, is a coarse, heavy animal, and is used 
mostly for carrying freight ; he will carry a burden 
of from three to four hundred pounds, and walk 
almost invariably two and a half miles an hour ; 
while the dromedary camel is a fleet animal, much 
smaller, and used for riding, the same as a saddle- 
horse. The fastest will travel one hundred miles a 
day, and for a number of days in succession, if ne- 
cessary, without injury. He can be forced to one 
hundred and fifty a day, but it means death. 

Travelers say they should never be allowed to 
walk, unless the way is rough or the sand deep. 
The walking motion is trying. The natural move- 
ment is a pace, both legs on a side moving at the 
same time. When this gait is taken, and the rider 
has learned to mount and dismount, the riding of a 
dromedary is comparatively easy. 

Arabia has produced the finest animals of this 
kind. The Arabian dromedary has but one hump, 
a small head and ears, shapely neck, and small, wiry 
legs. He requires but little food. His master and 

79 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



companion is the Bedouin. They eat and sleep to- 
gether, and their home is in the desert. Both man 
and animal are said to coarsen and degenerate if 
transferred to fertile fields. 

The name Bedouin, to a traveler in Egypt, is 
sometimes at first perplexing. One must have it 
well in mind that " Bedouin " used in the singular 
would come very far short of covering the name 
when used for the people. They are divided into 
groups, and these groups subdivided into numerous 
tribes, occupying different portions of the country, 
and following different employments, also some- 
what changed by the physical condition of the 
country, and habited in different garments ; some 
may feel the necessity of much study and clpse 
observation, or in a measure skipping altogether a 
very interesting portion of the inhabitants of Egypt. 

The genuine Bedouin is found only in the desert, 
where he pitches his tent ; there is his home ; and in 
this life of freedom and independence he still retains 
in a great degree the fiery blood and courage of his 
ancestors. He is a warrior by nature and training, 
and knows well how to defend himself in the preca- 
rious life which he leads. Many of them have sym- 
metrical forms, refined features, and a manly bear- 
ing. The ones mostly met with by travelers, unless 
making a desert journey, are of a weak, debased sort. 
Ishmael was the father of the Bedouins. 

80 



XI 



BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND 
MILITARY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 

HE natural desire to know something of 
the beginnings of nations, the founding 
of cities, and the religious beliefs and 
daily life of long-dead generations, has 
led to deep study and thorough investigation of 
whatever might lend a ray of light to the mystery 
of the mysterious past; and before writing more 
about the ancient Egyptians it may be well to 
briefly review a little of their history. 

At the time of the confusion of tongues and the 
dispersing of the builders of the tower of Babel, 
Ham, the son of Noah, and his son Cush, and the 
children of Cush, journeyed toward Egypt. These 
children went southward and westward. One Miz- 
raim (the same as Manes) peopled the Nile and was 
father of the Egyptians. The Arabs to this day 
call it " Mizir," a contraction of Mizraim. 

The first authentic profane history of Egypt be- 

81 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 



gins with Manes, the first earthly king of Egypt. 
The period is called the " primeval monarchy," the 
period preceding being that of the gods (mythical). 
The primeval was followed by the middle monarchy ; 
the Hyksos period in northern Egypt ; the new em- 
pire ; the Persian domination ; the time of Alexan- 
der ; the Mohammedan ; the French occupation ; the 
last, and present, that of Mehemet Ali and his suc- 
cessors. 

The history of ancient Egypt covers a period of 
2158 years. It begins with the establishment of 
the monarchy by Manes, in the year of the world 
1816, and closes with the death of Cleopatra, Egypt's 
last queen, in 3974. 

The ancient kings of Egypt knew little of abso- 
lute power. They were under restraints that were 
even humiliating. The food they ate and the spend- 
ing of their hours were all dictated to them by 
former rules and customs. Gluttony had no part 
in their dining, their tables being supplied with the 
simplest and most common food, " as becomes an 
Egyptian." Their principal duty was the adminis- 
tering of justice to their subjects. 

Thirty chosen judges aided in the dispensing of 
justice throughout the kingdom. These men were 
chosen for their honesty, knowledge, and love of 
law and order. The affairs of courts were all done 
in writing, that oratory might not be allowed to 

82 



BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY 



influence their decisions. The Egyptians rightly 
believed that true government makes life easy and 
the people happy. Many of their laws are intensely 
interesting. I will mention some of them : 

Foreigners were not admitted to the service of 
the king. Wilful murder was punished with death, 
whether committed by slave or freeman. A false 
accuser suffered the punishment that the accused 
would have suffered if guilty. A person refusing 
to aid another when attacked, if death occurred, 
suffered the same punishment as the assassin. In- 
gratitude was classed as a crime. 

There were many beautiful sayings of the ancient 
Egyptians ; among them are the following : 

" If thou art great after having been little, if thou 
art rich after having been poor, when thou art at 
the head of the city, do not take advantage of hav- 
ing reached the first rank. Harden not thy heart 
on account of these elevations ; thou hast become 
only steward of the goods of G-od." " Do not put 
thy neighbor behind thee, for know that he is thy 
equal." " Treat your dependents well ; this becomes 
those whom G-od has favored." " Deal faithfully 
with those who employ you." "Let not your 
thoughts be known to the man of evil tongue." 
" Let your face be bright with cheerfulness during 
the days of your life." The great lessons of this 
great people were those of virtue and humility. 

83 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



The ancient Egyptians were not counted among 
the warlike nations of their time, but the military 
stood high. The soldier ranked next to the priest, 
and the priest ranked next to the king. Their large 
and well-drilled armies were held rather for defense 
than conquest. The army consisted of foot, horse, 
and charioteers. All native Egyptians were under 
pay ; besides money reward, they held a garden-like 
plot of ground free from taxation, and had a daily 
allowance of food more than sufficient for their 
needs. The soldier's rank was handed down from 
father to son. A soldier caught in an act of cow- 
ardice or infidelity was dishonored, that being con- 
sidered the most severe punishment a man could 
receive. 

The Egyptians had great pride in antiquity, and 
claimed a national existence of twenty thousand 
years, and also claimed to be originators of festivals 
and processions in honor of the gods. There were 
a great number of these, but one was of special im- 
portance, called the "Feast of Lights," celebrated 
at Sais. All persons throughout Egypt who could 
not attend the feast were under obligation to the 
government to illuminate their houses. 

Of the homes of the ancient people we know little. 
They were probably built then, as now, of perish- 
able material, and constructed with the greatest 
simplicity, their chief ambition resting in works for 

84 



BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY 

the future. So they raised their obelisks and cut 
their history into them. They built their tombs as 
a house for the body, in which the spirit could find 
a hospitable place of return ; and their life-history 
is inscribed on parchment and stone tablets. 

Their temples declared aloud the glory of their 
religion and covered the mysteries of the priesthood. 
These magnificent structures were built with a pur- 
pose and for a purpose, and defied the destroyer 
time, but not the destroyer man. What man has 
made man can destroy. 



85 



XII 



THE PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF 
THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS 

HE priests in Egypt were a highly fa- 
vored class. They ranked next to the 
king and had a large place in his confi- 
dence. They were the keepers of the 
sacred books, which contained the principles of 
government and the mysteries of their religion, 
which was written in symbolic language. They re- 
ceived great reverence from the people, and their 
large revenues and lands were exempt from taxa- 
tion. It evidently was the policy of those in high 
places to add impressiveness through mystery. The 
inscriptions on public monuments of different kinds 
were written in symbols of which the common peo- 
ple had little, if any, knowledge. 

It is probable that the secrets of this mysterious 
religion were made inaccessible by being recorded 
in the sacred books, which were kept in tombs where 
priests only had access to them, and who from some 

86 




RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT 



policy never revealed them. I believe that they 
were never written in the language of the common 
people. 

The ancient Egyptians believed in one uncreated, 
all-powerful God, the resurrection of the body, and 
a future state of the soul. Besides this one great 
and powerful God, they had a multitude of lesser 
gods, which belonged to different mythical orders. 
Added to these were animal- and planet- worship, 
and worship of the Nile. 

They worshiped the sun as a symbol of divinity, 
a source of light and life. They associated light 
with good, and darkness with evil. They worshiped 
Osiris as a symbol of the sun and the god of the 
dead, who presided at the judgment of the soul of 
the dead, and to whose care and keeping it took its 
flight. Isis, "the goddess with a beautiful face," 
sister and wife of Osiris, and mother of Horus, was 
worshiped as a symbol of the moon and protectress 
of the souls of women ; and to her women made 
their invocations. 

It is thought that in the worship of these planets 
idolatry had its origin. I shall speak hereafter of 
animal-worship. To give in detail a description of 
the gods, spiritual and material, that the Egyptians 
worshiped would be a weariness and require a 
volume devoted wholly to that purpose. 

Their belief in a future state was another strange 

87 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

mixture of the material and the spiritual. Death did 
not seem fully to separate the soul from the body, 
which, in its shadowy way, it could still revisit 
and reinhabit. This belief led to the mummifying 
of the body, and to the building of strong and ex- 
pensive tombs for its dwelling-place. 

The stele, so often mentioned by writers, is but 
a tablet. The inscription usually includes the 
name, parentage, and titles of honor, and various 
other matters pertaining to the life or demise of the 
individual. The ancients, akin to ourselves, seem 
to have had a dread of the f orgetfulness that follows 
death, and tried in their inscriptions to gain the 
attention of the passer-by. There is a striking in- 
stance of this on a tablet to be seen in the Louvre 
in Paris : 

" Oh, you that are living upon the earth, you that 
enter this mortuary chapel of the necropolis, men 
and priests, officiating scribes, you who do not 
know death, you will be favored by the god of 
your city, you will not feel the fear of the other 
world, you will rest in your mortuary chapel, you 
will transmit your dignities to your children, if 
you will recite the words written on the stele." 
" You will not feel the fear of the other world n 
— here is apparently an allusion to future punish- 
ment. 

I will also add a few translations which give a 

88 



RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT 



very clear idea of their belief in the one great and 
powerful Grod : 

" He is the cause of that which is and that which 
is not." "He is not seen." "His fame and his 
name are alike unknown to men." " The place 
where he is is not known." " He is the master of 
all truths." " He is the mystery of all mysteries." 
" The gods issue from his mouth, and his words be- 
come gods." " I am whatever was, is, or will be." 
"Pray humbly; let all thy words be spoken in 
secret. Such prayers will he answer." 

The ancients believed that as life left a man death 
found him. At the judgment of the soul, if it was 
found worthy, it passed to its spiritual estate; if 
not, it was returned and given another body. If 
the life of the individual had been a vicious one, 
the spirit was given to the body of an unclean beast, 
where it was to dwell for centuries — not a long 
space in eternity. Then it was again given a 
human body, and allowed another opportunity for 
the soul's ascendency. 



89 



XIII 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

N our over-anxiety to be up in time for 
an early breakfast, that we might not 
miss our boat for Memphis, we found 
we had gained a half -hour, and spent it 
in taking a walk in the hotel gardens. The Egyp- 
tian sun, though so young in the year as well as 
the day, was hot enough to make the shade grate- 
ful and give some concern for our comfort during 
the day. Sometimes a few quiet, restful moments 
leave a happier memory than days crowded with 
events, though ever so interesting. I cannot re- 
member another half -hour in Egypt that was not 
crowded with work and a constant desire to accom- 
plish all that was possible in the time spent there ; 
and memory often turns back to the pleasant half- 
hour spent in the cool garden with its strange trees, 
shrubs, and fragrant flowers. 

Breakfast being over, we took our carriage, and 
the scene changed to the whirl of a great, bustling 

90 




2. (j a. 

^. a a. 



16. ^ q. 

17. <~: 



20. o I. 



S- \\ 

9 



10. v ^ k. 

1.1. Q q or k. 

12- -S&fc I- 



L 'l. /www 
15. □ p. 



2-»- we «. 



| , S=> 'J (th). 25. O . ^ 



Hieroglyphic Alphabet. 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

city. The streets were full of carriages ; it looked 
as though everybody was going to the boat, and 
each driver was trying to get there first. Our 
Nile boat was a veritable floating palace in minia- 
ture, with tiny state-rooms, and the deck fitted up 
with rugs, ottomans, chairs, tables, and a piano; 
above floated the English and Egyptian flags. The 
steam was already up, and after taking on a day's 
supplies and a quantity of English saddles, we 
moved out of the dock up the river. The view here 
of Cairo, crowned with Mehemet Ali's mosque, is 
fine ; also of the bridge over the Nile, and the wharf 
near it, where lay anchored a multitude of white- 
winged dahabiyehs. 

We soon passed the island of Roda, where, tradi- 
tion says, Moses was hid in the bulrushes. There 
are a number of these traditional places. Just 
where "Pharaoh's daughter stepped down to the 
water " it would be very hard to find out ; but that 
Moses was found, and that he was reared in great 
splendor at the court of the Pharaohs, is admitted, 
and that he was educated at Heliopolis, the city of 
the sun, is probable. Joseph married the daughter 
of a priest of On, now called Heliopolis. The main 
attraction of the island of Eoda, however, is the 
Nilometer, a high column marked off with notches, 
by which for many hundred years the exact rise 
and fall of the river have been measured. On 

91 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



either side are green fields, palm-groves, and vil- 
lages. 

The crocodile, the monster reptile of the Nile, has 
nearly disappeared from the river in Lower Egypt. 
Civilization is disturbing to his naps in the sun, and 
he retreats before it. Occasionally he strays as 
far as the delta during the inundation, but the sight 
of one is of rare occurrence. Fish are plentiful, but 
they are of a soft, foolish kind, and taste as though 
made of paste. 

The chief feature of Egypt is the ever-wonderful 
Nile. This majestic river has its source in the 
basin of Lake Victoria Nyanza, and leads its way 
through rocky regions, over noisy cataracts, and 
then through peaceful, sunny lands to the Mediter- 
ranean, carrying in its sweet waters the wealth of 
the Egyptians. 

The annual rise and inundation of the Nile are 
caused by the tropical rains in the regions surround- 
ing its source and its eastern tributaries. It is a time 
of deep concern to the people of the country. If the 
rise is too great, disaster comes, their mud houses 
are destroyed, property washed away, and cattle 
drowned; if deficient, famine and misery follow. 
The Nile begins its rise in Egypt about the 20th of 
June. The inundation begins about two months 
later. The river attains its greatest height at the 
time of the autumnal equinox, and subsides in March. 

92 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

In Egypt the Nile banks are considerably higher 
than the country bordering on them. The banks 
are necessarily cut through by canals, and the water 
flows out through them. These canals are closed 
at the proper time, and the water retained on the 
land as long as necessary for the production of good 
crops ; then, as the river becomes lower, it is allowed 
to flow out. The irrigation of the Nile country is 
wonderful, and is controlled by skilful engineers 
paid by the government. The depth of the deposit 
of soil is very small, amounting to about six inches 
in a century. The inundations average about forty 
feet at the first cataract, twenty feet at Cairo, and 
four at Rosetta by the sea. The measurements are 
taken for Cairo at the island of Roda, by means of 
the Nilometer, or water-gage. 

At the time of high Nile the people hold a merry- 
making of three days. This is done from year to 
year. From the 1st of July the mimiader, a crier 
of the Nile, makes his rounds and proclaims how 
much the Nile has risen. When the ordinary 
course of things occurs he is given but little atten- 
tion ; yet the industrious muniader faithfully makes 
his rounds and gives his daily announcements. He 
is gaily attired, and assisted by two musicians ; one 
beats an Egyptian drum, and the other plays upon 
the hautboy. When the river has risen sufficiently 
to promise a good harvest, then his cry is, " Grod 

93 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

has given abundance, and will not the people give 
to the bearer of good tidings I " Through the length 
and breadth of Egypt this chant has been heard for 
hundreds of years, yet the muniader never fails of 
a generous gift. 

The great physical peculiarity of Egypt is the 
absence of rain. The cultivated country extends 
no farther than the limits of the inundation. 

Strange-looking boats peculiar to the country 
were passing up and down the river, and their im- 
mense lateen sails added majesty to otherwise an 
ordinary craft. They were laden with a great vari- 
ety of vegetables, and sheaves of sugar-cane were 
stacked in huge piles on the deck. 

We landed at Bedrashen, but no one was allowed 
to go ashore until the saddles were put off; and 
then, amid the braying of donkeys and the shout- 
ing of donkey-boys, the passengers were permitted 
to land. Each made his or her own choice of don- 
key, and there was a general scrabble for the best 
animals. It was soon over, however, and we were 
off for Memphis and Sakkarah. I had a nice-looking 
little iron-gray beast, but go faster than a walk 
he would not. No amount of coaxing or beating 
would change his pace until after leaving Mitra- 
hineh, the site of ancient Memphis, and then, for 
reasons explained hereafter, he changed his mind ; 
but he was a miserable hypocrite at best. 

94 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

Egyptian travelers usually ride donkeys, and 
most of them tell of such exploits and such amus- 
ing times, I had been greatly tempted to buy one 
while at home, and ride in the back yard, for the 
pure amusement of it. My experience with Egyp- 
tian donkeys was neither amusing nor "funny." 
I never rode one that he did not do something 
downright mean, and there was no amusement 
in it. 

Memphis, the "good station," or the "city with 
white walls," was called Noph in the Bible. It was 
founded by Manes, the first historical king, and was 
the capital of the old Egyptian empire. With the 
reign of Manes begins the tolerably authentic his- 
tory of Egypt. About this time monumental records 
begin. 

The Egyptian name used in the hieroglyphics was 
Mannofre. The site of this ancient city is nine or 
ten miles from Cairo and a mile or so back from the 
river. To obtain a suitable and sizable site for this 
great city, Manes constructed a dike, and turned 
the Nile a long distance eastward. Where once 
stood this great city of vast dimensions, made beau- 
tiful with colonnades and statuary, now is to be 
found the wretched little Arab village of Mitrahmeh, 
whose degraded inhabitants, sunken in poverty, 
send their naked children out to ask alms of the 
passing stranger. 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

All that remains to show that this magnificent 
city ever existed is the broken statue of Rameses, 
bits of statuary, and heaps of rubbish. The statue of 
Rameses remains where it is from the sheer inability 
to carry it away or destroy it by ordinary means. 
This statue is an immense affair, being forty feet in 
length ; we say " length," for, from causes unknown, 
it fell face down, as if sharing the humility of its 
humbled city, and remained for untold years in 
that position, until recently it has been raised to a 
position where a good view can be obtained. It is 
broken and somewhat scarred, but the face is still 
uninjured. Rameses II. was the Pharaoh of Moses' 
time, the Pharaoh of the persecution, and from his 
son Merenptah the Israelites were delivered. Ma- 
nes, after founding the great city of Memphis and 
ruling over it for sixty years, ignominiously yielded 
his life to the onslaught of a ferocious hippopota- 
mus. 

From Memphis there are two trails leading to 
Sakkarah, one through the palms, and the other 
through cultivated fields. After looking at the 
statue we all again mounted. The boys applied 
their sticks to our donkeys, and they scampered off. 
The party was large and the attendants few, so the 
boys had it nearly all their own way. After a nice 
gallop we looked around, and there were not half a 
dozen of the party in sight. What the matter was 

96 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

the boys, for special reasons of their own, conld not 
possibly tell ; but it was soon revealed. The rest 
of the party had gone through the palm-groves, and 
we through the fields. When about in the midst 
of a field of clover, the boys made a blouse of half 
of their single garment by tying a string around 
their waist. They then stopped the animals ; they 
were willing to stop, — they had been there before, 
— and began to nip the clover, while the boys began 
cramming their improvised blouses with clover, 
and repeating, " Clover for my donkey, clover for 
my donkey." All was now explained. We had 
been taken on a foraging expedition. Neither the 
boys nor the donkeys could be induced to move. The 
boys, when urged, only smiled and showed their 
white teeth (quite Delsarte), and the foraging went 
on. But retribution was at hand ; for eight or ten 
fellahs had left their work in the fields, and, armed 
with strips of wood that looked like unbent barrel- 
hoops, were coming toward us with the speed of the 
wind. 

These lanky, long-legged men were putting to 
naught any foot-racing I had ever seen. I tried to 
attract the attention of the boys, but they were too 
intent gathering " clover for my donkey " to pay 
the least heed to what was going on around them. 
In a moment's time the men were upon us. My 
boy ran for his donkey, and, crawling under him, 

97 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



begged protection. I told him to unload, and he 
began to do so ; but in less than a thought of time 
a tall, lean fellah, with flashing black eyes, and 
hissing like a serpent, caught my donkey by the 
bridle, while another of the same type dragged the 
boy out and began beating him in the most brutal 
manner. I gesticulated and shouted, but it was of 
no avail, — the blows fell fast and heavy, — and the 
others came to the rescue. There was a grand 
mix together of men, women, Arabs, boys, and 
donkeys ; some were pushing and some were pull- 
ing. I was jostled first one way and then the 
other. The men shouted and the boys screamed. 
All the boys were receiving chastisement now. 
Not a donkey was allowed to move. 

When the excitement was at its height, a young 
German officer disentangled himself, and, drawing 
a cavalry pistol, demanded an armistice ; there was 
no mistaking his intent. Dr. Palmer had a large 
field-glass in a case, with the strap over his shoulder. 
They took a side-glance at that also, and quiet was 
soon restored; they evidently thought the case 
contained some kind of firearm. 

Two boys were detained, while the rest were 
allowed to move on : it was clear that they were old 
offenders. The one in my service followed us in 
about an hour, and showed me places on his body 
as large as a dollar where the skin had been taken 

98 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

off by the beating. The members of the party who 
followed the trail through the palms reached Sak- 
karah far in advance of us. 

We made the house of Mariette (which has been 
abandoned) our headquarters. Here the little ani- 
mals rested, and some of them ate a biscuit. 

The necropolis, or burial-place, of Memphis is 
situated on the edge of the Libyan Desert, in the 
" Kegion of Death," and less than half a mile from 
the border of the cultivated lands. The necropolis 
begins with the El-Gizeh group of pyramids, and 
stretches along the desert for more than twenty 
miles. This vast burial-place gives something of a 
hint of the immense population of this primeval 
capital city. 

The kings who from time to time dwelt here 
chose to build pyramid tombs, while around them 
their people were buried in mummy-pits. 

When a member of a family died, all the relatives 
attired themselves in mourning-garments and ab- 
stained from personal pleasures and indulgences 
for a period of from forty to seventy days, accord- 
ing to the rank or distinction of the deceased. 
During this time the body was given over to the 
embalm ers. A great many followed this calling, and 
had quarters near the necropolis. Some portions, if 
not all, of the process were revolting, and it requires 
some courage to pen it ; still, we all desire to know. 

• . 99 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



In this work there was a division of labor. Some 
removed the brain by drawing it through the nose 
with an instrument made for that purpose. This 
part of the process was thought cruel, and the per- 
sons employed were often stoned, and fled as soon 
as their work was done. Others opened the side 
and emptied the intestines. Then the cavities were 
filled with myrrh and different kinds of spices that 
prevent decomposition. After this the body was 
swathed in a thin kind of cloth, and incrusted with 
drugs of rare perfume. The body was then placed 
in a close-fitting case, and delivered to the family, 
who put it in an upright position in a sepulcher or 
against the walls of their dwelling-house. 

This was one way of disposing of the bodies of 
the dead; besides this, they buried and burned 
them ; but those that were mummified give us the 
only positive proof of the process of their putting 
away. Their belief in the rehabitation by the spirit 
is sufficient reason for their preserving the body; 
but there could be but a melancholy satisfaction in 
viewing them in this deformed and wretched state. 

The pyramid tombs are grouped together, bear- 
ing different names. Some undoubtedly have been 
destroyed. "We have mentioned these groups as 
seen from the citadel at Cairo. In these tombs are 
preserved the earliest monuments of Egypt. 

It is but a short distance from Mariette's house 

100 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

to the Greek Serapeum, containing the tombs of 
Apis or sacred bulls. It is all desert sand aronnd 
the approach. We first passed down a slight in- 
cline. I believe there are some steps, but they were 
mostly covered with drifting sand. At the end of 
the incline is an iron gate, through which the keeper 
allowed us to pass. We found ourselves in a long 
corridor. It was walled up at the sides and arched 
overhead with large blocks of stone. On either 
side were deep recesses, which contained sarcophagi ; 
there are sixty-four in all. Twenty-four of these 
contained mummied bulls; these mummies have 
all been removed. 

These sarcophagi are made of a single block 
of granite or stone, and are thirteen feet long, 
seven wide, and fourteen high, and weigh about 
sixty-five tons. The lids to these stone coffins have 
been left partly off, and the chiseling is as bright 
and looks as newly done as though it were the 
work of to-day, so little does the atmosphere of the 
dry desert affect work done in stone. The temper- 
ature is equable, about 84°; it is really retained 
desert heat. If visitors are not prepared with wraps 
for use on coming out, unless the temperature out- 
side is as high as inside they will be very liable to 
a chill. 

The sacred bull, Apis, was worshiped at Memphis 
with extraordinary rites. The particular animal 

101 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



cliosen had peculiar marks. The body was black, 
with a square white spot on the forehead ; he had 
the figure of an eagle on his back, a white spot like 
a crescent on his right side, the hair of the tail 
double, and a knot under the tongue like a beetle. 
I imagine the finding of just such an animal must 
have been difficult. The festival of consecration 
lasted seven days, at which time Apis was led in 
procession with great pomp and solemnity. If he 
ate from one's hand it was considered a good omen ; 
if he refused, a bad one. It is said Grermanicus 
foresaw his approaching death by the refusal of 
Apis to eat from his hand. 

The Egyptians worshiped Apis as an image of 
the soul of Ptah, the god of Memphis. (This name 
sometimes appears as Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.) And Ptah 
was supposed to migrate from one soul to another 
in succession. Apis's death was a season of general 
mourning. The body was held sacred in death as 
well as in life. After death it was embalmed and 
placed in a stone sarcophagus. The interment 
was accompanied with funeral rites and costly 
ceremonies.* 

Brooks, the Egyptologist, says he thinks at the 

* The New York Historical Society has in its museum three large 
mummies of the sacred bull. They were taken from tombs at Dasher. 
These mummies are very rare. The New York Historical Society is 
a society of gentlemen, and permission to visit the museum can be 
obtained only from one of its members. 

102 



THE NILE, MEMPHIS, AND SAKKARAH 

time of the pyramids and Sphinx the Egyptians 
believed in but one God, and explains it by saying, 
" In a little temple excavated near the Sphinx the 
records made allusion to but one Deity." In his 
opinion, the ignorant craved a visible god, and 
worshiped some person, animal, or object as a sym- 
bol of God, and then followed the worship of in- 
numerable gods. 

Ancient history explains animal- worship in three 
different ways. The first reason is mythological, 
and is as follows : "The gods, in a rebellion made 
against them by men, fled to Egypt, and there con- 
cealed themselves under the form of different ani- 
mals; and this gave birth to the worship which 
was afterward paid to these animals." The second 
arises from the benefit which these several animals 
procured mankind — oxen by their labor, sheep by 
their wool and milk, dogs by their service in hunt- 
ing and guarding houses. 

Philosophers, not satisfied with reasons which 
were too trifling to account for such strange absur- 
dities as dishonored the heathen system, explained 
that the worship was not offered to the animals 
themselves, but to the gods of whom they were 
symbols. Plutarch says, " Philosophers honor the 
image of God wherever they find it, even in inani- 
mate beings, and consequently more in those which 
have life." He says, in the same treatise, that " as 

103 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



the sun and moon, heaven and earth and the sea, 
are common to all men, but have different names, 
according to the difference of nations and languages, 
in like manner, though there is but one Deity and 
one Providence, which governs the universe, and 
which has several subaltern ministers under it, 
men give to the Deity, which is the same, different 
names, and pay it different honors, according to the 
laws and customs of every country." 

About the same distance from Mariette's house 
as the Serapeum, but in a different direction, is the 
tomb of Ti. It was erected in a street of tombs. 
The street is now covered with sand, and the 
tomb is nearly so. This is an important structure. 
The chambers, from ceiling to floor, are covered 
with sculptures in bas-relief, many of them colored, 
and all of them bright and perfect, telling the story 
of various industries — sowing, reaping, the raising 
of cattle and poultry, building, glass-blowing, bread- 
making, and many other occupations. These sculp- 
tures have told their silent story for forty-four 
hundred years, and still are new. 



104 



XIV 



RETURNING THROUGH PALM-GROVES 

T Mariette's house had been settled our 
grievances in none too affable a manner, 
and the guides and dragomans did not 
see much bakshish in prospect from 
" the man from New York " ; so when we started 
back for the boat we had a body-guard front and 
rear, and as much attention as though we had be- 
longed to some royal family — and we did. 

We soon entered an extensive palm-grove. It 
seemingly stretched along the country for miles. 
Never did I see a more majestic and impressive 
sight in the sisterhood of lofty trees. Each tree is 
planted sufficiently distant from its neighbor to 
give it complete individuality. Its trunk, which 
is from fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter, and 
all the way up of equal size, shoots straight upward 
for seventy or eighty feet ; then it spreads a crown 
of shiny green leaves apparently in the depths of 
the blue ether dome of heaven. How appropriate 

105 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 



to call the palm the prince of trees ! No one should 
ever ride through a palm-grove mounted on a lesser 
animal than a camel or an elephant. You cannot, 
and maintain your self-respect. Human nature is 
weak at best, and when you look up and see these 
towering palms, with their royal crowns in heaven, 
you are sure to feel cheap and small ambling along 
on a poor diminutive donkey that you begin to pity. 
Then your sense of harmony cries out for the grand 
picture you might help to make, but you do not, 
and your self-importance shrinks and shrivels and 
is gone. 

It seems hardly fair to speak of the personal 
beauty of the palms — and there is a variety of them 
— and not speak of their surprising utility, espe- 
cially the date variety. The palms of Egypt com- 
pete with our timber-lands, our food-lands, our cot- 
ton-fields, and our sugar plantations. Of the trunk 
of the tree the Egyptian makes furniture and the 
floor and roof support of his house ; with the leaves 
he thatches it. The leaf-stems furnish him with fuel, 
the dates with food, and his horse and dog as well. 
Of the wood and leaf -fiber he makes his clothing, 
paper, baskets, mats, and cordage; and from the 
sap he makes wine. After all this, he has a reserve 
for sugar, starch, wax, and dyeing materials. This 
is not all, but this is enough. 

These trees are so valuable that the government 

106 



RETURNING THROUGH PALM-GROVES 



imposes a special tax on each individual tree. I 
suppose their income overreaches the limit of " in- 
come exemption," and so the dear trees are taxed. 
All governments are liable to find themselves in 
straitened circumstances; but a government ap- 
pears to me to be sailing pretty close to the shore 
when it taxes a single tree, if it is a palm-tree. But 
taxes are taxes in Egypt. 

On our return from Sakkarah we had more time 
for observation, and gave our attention to finding 
out whatever we could about the agriculture of the 
valley. The land is divided into two kinds. Those 
lands that are naturally inundated are called the rei 
lands, and are mostly cultivated but once a year; 
about the last of October or first of November they 
are sown with wheat, barley, and other grains. The 
lands artificially irrigated can be made to produce 
three crops a year, and are called the shardkee lands. 
They produce the usual winter crops of wheat and 
barley ; then they have the summer crops of millet, 
indigo, and cotton, each in their turn. 

The famous biblus, or papyrus, from which paper 
was made, appears to be nearly extinct. 

There are wonderful fields of roses in theFeiyoom, 
which supply the market with rose-water. The 
Feiyoom is a remarkable tract of land extending 
about thirty miles into the desert. It contains a 
fine little lake, and most of the lands are cultivated. 

107 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



History locates the Egyptian labyrinth in this dis- 
trict. 

If it were not for irrigation the soil of this valley 
would soon become but drifting sand like the desert. 
There are now over six million acres made produc- 
tive by irrigation. 

Before the introduction of windmills by the 
French the grinding of grain was all done by house- 
mills. A great many still cling to the house-mills, 
and the windmills sometimes have little to do. 

Mehemet Ali introduced cotton-growing in Egypt 
to aid him in his manufacturing schemes ; but the 
necessity of constructing dams to keep the Nile 
water back from the fields during crop-raising 
proved expensive, as well as disastrous in time of 
the inundations, and for a time checked the enter- 
prise ; but the high price of cotton during our Civil 
War revived its culture again, and it is now a valu- 
able export. 

During the day we saw but few domestic animals 
— mostly goats and donkeys. The goat was to be 
seen everywhere, the donkey going everywhere. 
Most of the horses were ordinary. The cattle were 
small, short-horned, and sleek ; the buffalo uncouth, 
but seemingly friendly. These were at work in 
the fields, or slowly turning the shadoofs, or water- 
wheels used in raising water for irrigation purposes. 
TVe accidentally saw no sheep, although they are 

108 



RETURNING THROUGH PALM-GROVES 

plentiful. It is said their wool is harsh and wiry, 
but their milk is prized as an article of food. Neither 
did we see any pigs ; these are scarce. Their flesh 
is not eaten by the natives, the Greek inhabitants 
being the only buyers of this kind of meat. At 
one place where we halted a boy offered bread to 
the party. Some tasted it ; but remembering the 
process of baking, it was impossible for me to 
do so. It is more blessed to give than to receive. 

The dwellings of the peasantry are wretched in 
the extreme. The four walls are formed of bricks 
of Nile mud, thatched with straw or old straw rugs 
(mostly the latter), and are windowless. They have 
an inclosure in front which answers the double pur- 
pose of dooryard and farm-yard, where the family 
and domestic animals meet together amicably. 

The dress of the peasants is very simple : a pair 
of wide cotton breeches, a blue cotton shirt, a felt 
skull-cap, a cloak or blanket of wool. If they 
chance to wear shoes, they are of the pointed sort. 
The wealthier are said to have a more pretentious 
costume for market and festival days. Children 
wear but a single garment, made in the style of a 
child's night-slip as used at home. 

The food of the poorer class of peasants is ex- 
tremely frugal. It consists mainly of a kind of 
bread made of corn-meal or serguin flour, and beans 
also are largely used. They usually have one hot 

109 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



meal a day. This consists of a kind of gravy or 
sauce made of vegetables, highly seasoned with 
salt and butter or oil. This is put into a large dish, 
and into it each member of the family dips his 
bread. They also have a kind of sour cheese, made 
from goat's or buffalo's milk. During the heated 
season their food is largely made up of fruit, cu- 
cumbers, and a species of pumpkin. 

When in sight of the boat-landing my donkey 
was as spirited as when in sight of the clover-fields. 
After lagging behind all the way from Sakkarah, he 
broke into a gallop, and was the first donkey at the 
landing. 

The sunsets of the Nile are remarkable for their 
gorgeous coloring. The one of that evening seemed 
almost freakish. It began with yellow tints, which 
grew richer and stronger, and went through all the 
orange shades, and then developed into an intense 
color for which I have no name. It was neither 
crimson nor orange ; it was both. The Nile reflected 
this sky splendor. Men and camels and palm-trees 
and huts, or any other object, in shadow, were as 
black as ink, and as clearly outlined against the 
western horizon, and perfectly reflected again in 
the river, as if drawn with pen or pencil. They 
were perfect silhouettes. "We arrived in Cairo 
just in time for dinner, which began at seven and 
finished at nine. 

no 



XV 



THE FINDING OF THE PHARAOHS 

HE finding of the mummies of the Pha- 
raohs in 1881 was by far the most im- 
portant of late discoveries. An account 
of it at the time was published in every 
newspaper of importance throughout the land ; but 
for the benefit of young readers I will give it space. 

For a long time the antiquarians had known that 
the Arabs at Luxor were selling to travelers objects 
taken from tombs. It was a matter of great interest 
to them, and they were on the lookout to see where 
they came from. The Arabs were wily, and kept 
well their secret; but one was at last induced to 
reveal it, and then he led the way. The place of the 
tomb chambers proved to be near Deir-el-Bahari. 

Here was a well-like shaft, filled with sand, dis- 
covered by chance, leading to a tunnel, and the 
tunnel to a rough chamber in the cliff. In this 
chamber were upward of thirty mummy-cases, the 
majority of them decorated with the royal asp. 

111 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 



These cases contained the mummies of the Pharaoh 
of the oppression, the Pharaoh of the exodus, Queen 
Nofretari, together with other royal personages 
and the high priest Nabseni. At an unknown time, 
and for an unknown reason, these relics had been 
taken from their first royal resting-place and hidden 
in this rude chamber. 

I recently read a very interesting description, by 
Emil Brugsch Bey, of the Bulak Museum, of the 
entering of the chamber, the removing of the 
cases, and the transporting of them across the 
plain. I will give it in brief, as nearly as I can : 

"The well cleared out, I descended and began 
the exploration of the underground passage. Soon 
we came upon cases of porcelain, funeral offerings, 
metal and alabaster vases; then we reached the 
turn in the passage ; then a cluster of mummy-cases 
came in view. Examining them by the light of my 
torch, I saw at once they contained the mummies 
of royal personages of both sexes. Plunging on 
ahead of my guide, I came to another chamber, 
containing mummy-cases of stupendous size and 
weight, with polished surfaces and gold coverings. 

"When I left the tomb it was almost dark. 
Jackals and hyenas were skulking around the 
neighborhood, and broods of vultures were sitting 
on the cliff near by, and the valley was still as 
death. There was little sleep in Luxor that night. 

112 



THE NILE, BULAK, AND DAHABIYEH. 



THE FINDING OF THE PHARAOHS 



I spent most of the time hiring men to remove the 
relics. At early morning three hundred Arabs were 
employed. One by one the cases were hoisted to 
the surface, securely sewed up in sail-cloth, and 
then transported across the plain. Two squads of 
Arabs accompanied each sarcophagus, one to carry 
it, and the other to keep watch. 

" After six days of hard labor under a July sun, 
the work was finished. I shall never forget the 
scene I witnessed when, standing at the mouth of 
the shaft, I watched the strange line of helpers 
while they carried across that historical plain the 
bodies of the very kings who had constructed the 
temples still standing, and of the very priests who 
had officiated in them. When we made our depar- 
ture from Luxor, our late helpers squatted in groups 
upon the Theban side and silently watched us. The 
news had been sent down the Nile in advance ; so 
when we passed the towns, the people gathered at 
the quays and made most frantic demonstrations. 
The fantasia dancers were holding their wildest 
orgies ; a strange wail went up from the men ; the 
women were screaming and tearing their hair ; and 
the children were so frightened I pitied them. At 
last we arrived at the Bulak Museum." 

The Bulak collection is a rare and large one. It 
contains relics from nearly, if not every, dynasty of 
Egypt. The mummies of the great Pharaohs are 

113 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



here exposed to view, and cases of rich and elabo- 
rate jewelry in gold, found with the mummies of 
their queens. The chief treasures, found by Mari- 
ette Bey, have a large space devoted to them, and 
attract special attention. 

In the valley of the Nile, about thirty miles from 
the ruins of ancient Thebes, Professor Flinders 
Petrie has made a new find of an ancient race and an 
ancient civilization. He was led to investigate the 
locality from the appearance of its having been a 
pleasant location for dwellings. Professor Petrie 
places the date of objects found at three thousand 
years before Christ. Besides human remains, he 
has found various relics — vases of porphyry, hand- 
made pottery, a set of ninepins, ivory combs, and 
various other articles. From the position he found 
the bones. in he was forced to the conviction 
that cannibalism was common among them at this 
period of history, but probably as a funeral rite, 
the partakers believing, with some other races, that 
the virtues of the dead were imparted to those who 
partook of their flesh. 



114 



XVI 



LEAVING EGYPT— ISMA'ILIYA AND THE SUEZ 
CANAL 

T is growing hot in Egypt. Soldiers 
and civilians are donning their white 
helmets, and tourists should be moving 
on. 

A visit to Upper Egypt the lateness of the season 
would not permit, so early one morning we packed 
our trunks for Palestine. The sun's rays were 
coming down with no little intensity, and we tried 
to console ourselves for this forced departure with 
the thought that we were going to a cooler coun- 
try. 

These Egyptian days have been strange, pre- 
cious days — the delightful climate, the clear sky, 
the golden sun by day, and the white moonlight by 
night. Our camel-rides, the pyramids, the tombs, 
the Nile with its green border-lands, will all re- 
main an unfading memory and a lasting source 
of pleasure. Yet it is not well to have too long 

115 




EGYPTIAN DAYS 



present the same sad old truth that in all things 
earthly there is rise, growth, decay, and dissolution. 
After a time one eats of the lotus and becomes 
dreamy and indifferent to all things. We have 
already tasted of the lotus, and would gladly remain 
for a time and dream on in this cradle of ancient 
civilization. 

Our tickets read, " Via Isma'iliya, Port Said, and 
Jaffa." 

The train was crowded; and while the coaches 
were of the best in the country, they were none too 
clean. Luckily, we succeeded in securing seats 
near the window, so we could catch a glimpse of 
scenes that had grown familiar ; but we soon whirled 
out of sight of them. The turrets and domes of the 
citadel were the last to say good-by to us. 

The dust is a veritable nuisance ; it is everywhere 
present. I prefer mud to dust — yes, a flood or a 
blizzard. They are open-faced enemies, and you 
have some defense. Not so with the dust. It is 
treacherous and insinuating. It comes down si- 
lently on your new bonnet, and as silently transfers 
itself in blotches on your last-made gown, and 
grinds out the gloves that match it, destroys the 
polish on your best boots, disfigures your face, fills 
your lungs with microbes and your soul with wrath. 
My satchel overflowed with insect-powder, eye- 
water, lip-salve, adhesive plaster, porous plaster, 

116 



LEAVING EGYPT 



liniment, bandages, and bottles that we do not 
mention, all prescribed for the emergencies of 
travel ; but there is no defense against the fiend of 
a rainless country. 

Our course lay through the rich lands of Groshen, 
the home of the Israelites in Egypt. We will not 
say anything of the trail they followed when they 
made their exodus, because we do not know any- 
thing about it, and there are so many who think 
they do know, and so few who agree. We will only 
say that it must have been somewhere, for surely 
the Israelites made an exodus. 

We passed through a number of mud-built vil- 
lages, each with its mosque and cluster of trees. 
At one place it was market-day in an open field, 
with now and then a protection for goods by means 
of a roof made of a square of cloth, supported 
by four poles driven into the ground. The cloth 
was either black and white striped, or gray. The 
green fields and moving crowds dressed in bright 
colors made a vivid and interesting picture. I 
think the dress of Orientals is the last thing we 
become accustomed to. It is totally different from 
anything we have been familiar with, and the 
variety seems endless. 

Our train was a fast express, and we stopped only 
at the larger towns. At each of these stations, 
before the wheels of the coaches ceased to turn, 

117 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 

every window and door was besieged by peddlers, 
of every style of face and feature, from old men 
and women down to children that were almost 
babies. They sold Nile water from clay bottles, 
and carried shallow trays heaped with cakes, boiled 
eggs, lemons, oranges, dates, and I know not what 
all. They pushed and jostled one another, and 
shouted, each trying to secure a customer. I think 
one must be famine-struck to purchase eatables 
from such a dirty crowd. 

Before reaching Isma'iliya we entered a strip of 
desert. It was in striking contrast to the rich fields 
we had passed earlier in the day. We expected 
only an hour's stay at Isma'iliya, and hurried through 
our lunch so as to catch our vessel. It was easy 
hurrying, however, for there was not much to de- 
tain us ; but the hurry was in vain : the vessel on 
which our passage had been engaged was overfull, 
and had sailed away and left us. Our baggage, 
great and small, had been stacked on the hotel 
veranda, and we could roam the town or sit on it. 
There were but three chairs, and we chose to walk 
the town. There is always some relief in having a 
choice. 

Isma'iliya is situated about midway between Suez 
and Port Said, on Lake Timsah, through which the 
Suez Canal passes. It is an oasis in the desert, the 
land on which it is built having been made produc- 

118 



LEAVING EGYPT 



tive by irrigation. It is a pretty little town, with 
broad, regular streets bordered with trees, and has 
a number of squares and gardens that are really 
beautiful, especially those belonging to the vice- 
roy's palace. 

The town enjoyed great prosperity during the con- 
struction of the canal, De Lesseps and most of the 
officers making it their headquarters. The idea of 
cutting a canal across the Isthmus of Suez, which 
at the part occupied by it is about seventy-two 
miles wide, was no new thought. Long before 
Christ's time, an Egyptian monarch planned a like 
work, and after having lost one hundred and twenty 
thousand men in the attempt, abandoned it through 
the advice of an oracle, who informed him that it 
would "benefit only strangers." The oracle was 
about right. Napoleon and many others had am- 
bitions in this direction, but it remained for the 
energetic De Lesseps to carry to completion this 
great work; and it is a sad affair that in his old 
age a shadow fell on his fair name and fame, which 
brought great shame and anguish upon himself and 
family. 

One can hardly visit this place and not turn a 
kindly thought to the enthusiastic Frenchman who, 
later in life, sinned, more through weakened judg- 
ment than any intent at crime ; and, after all, the 
generous-minded will always honor the genius and 

119 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



diplomacy that gave to the world this useful water- 
way. 

Isma'il, the notorious, was at the head of govern- 
ment in Egypt at the time the Suez Canal was 
constructed ; and he, too, had a mighty fall. Isma'il 
was educated in France, and brought home with 
him French notions and French tastes. He ran 
Egypt into untold complications and plunged the 
country into bankruptcy. His extravagance is 
beyond comprehension. It is charged to him that 
he spent twenty-one million dollars celebrating the 
opening of the canal. He built at Cairo an opera- 
house, and reconstructed and refurnished palaces 
in the most gorgeous and sumptuous manner. He 
gave fetes, concerts, operas, and dinners to enter- 
tain his royal guests, whom he could count by 
dozens; and to cover the disgrace of his career, 
the story goes that he employed an assassin to 
murder his minister, that he might make a scape- 
grace of him by placing the responsibility on this 
high official. The powers demanded the dethrone- 
ment of Isma'il, and his son Tewfik, the solemn, 
succeeded him. 

Lake Timsah was mostly a swamp before the 
water of the Mediterranean flooded it. It is now a 
lovely sheet of water, and a stroll along the quay is 
delightful, and, too, it is a legend-haunted place. 
At the south side of the lake, near where the canal 



LEAVING EGYPT 



enters it from Suez, is situated Gabel Maryam. 
At this place, tradition says, Miriam was smitten 
with leprosy for refusing to be reconciled to the 
marriage of her brother Moses to the Ethiopian 
woman, and was for a time banished from the camp 
of the Israelites. 

Eeturning to the hotel, we learned that a vessel 
was to come for us from Port Said, but when was 
altogether too much information to be given at one 
time. But seeing a dozen or more slaughtered 
chickens being carried kitchenward, and knowing 
that the hotel could in no way lodge all of its guests 
comfortably, we at once engaged a room, thus put- 
ting aside further anxiety. We were not in the 
least sorry to be left or remain ; we were weary be- 
yond telling, and a night in a bed instead of a berth 
in a ship was something to be thankful for, espe- 
cially a little later, when the scramble for beds 
began. Our dinner was fairly good, and after it 
we went to our room, the windows of which opened 
on the desert, facing west. 

The sun was setting strangely red and hot, and 
all the little particles of dust in the air were aglow. 
The red light of the heavens was reflected on the 
sand, and the desert became a burning waste. It 
was a wonderful night, a gorgeous panorama, and 
impressed me more with a sense of the great heat 
of the desert than anything I had before experi- 

121 



EGYPTIAN DAYS 



enced. Although no great heat was now felt, twi- 
light does not linger long in desert lands, and our 
picture soon burned out; but we are to have an- 
other—the coming out of the stars. They are so 
brilliant and so large, twice their usual size, and 
the heavens are ablaze with them. We are loath 
to close the windows, but we need rest ; and leaving 
the curtains a little apart, so as not to shut out the 
glory of the heavens, we take possession of our bed. 
We are glad it is clean and comfortable. Grood night. 

Our vessel arrived about nine o'clock in the 
morning. It was a small, trim-built, aristocratic- 
looking craft ; and after taking on the little bands 
of lefts, moved quietly on, without that mad rushing 
noise of water that follows a large one. Being a 
special, there was no crowd. The decks were clean 
and roomy. Most of the travelers seemed to be 
thoughtful rather than talkative. 

The day was as perfect a day as ever dropped 
out of heaven. The air was mild, the sun glo- 
rious, and the water radiantly blue. There was 
something peaceful and restful in the air of that 
lovely, perfect Sabbath day. After leaving Lake 
Timsah, all for a time was desert; but even the 
desert can be beautiful as well as grand. The 
atmospheric coloring was exquisite; it ranged in 
heliotrope shades down to the faintest, and pro- 
duced such a far-away and unearthly impression. 

122 



LEAVING EGYPT 

On entering Lake Menzaleh, a pictnre of heavenly 
art, a mirage, enhanced the scene. The lake is a 
famous place for shooting. Pelicans, flamingos, 
silver herrings, and other wild fowl are plentiful 
here. 

The canal passes in a straight line through Lake 
Menzaleh (which was once fertile fields) to Port 
Said. We enter the port, and find ourselves in a 
forest of masts and surrounded by the black hulls 
of many ships from many lands. Our ship for 
Jaffa is awaiting us. We shall see more of Port 
Said on our return. 



123 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



I 



JAFFA AND ENVIRONS 

E passed a wretched night after leaving 
Port Said, not on account of a storm, but 
wholly because of occupying " the best 
state-room in the ship." It had been 
selected long in advance, after explicit orders and 
faithful promises, by one of those philanthropists 
who take such tender, loving care of travelers in 
countries with unspeakable languages. But alas ! 
a position over plunging, shaking machinery proved 
to be as disagreeable as a storm, and a still, beauti- 
ful night brought us no rest. Early next morning 
we made our way to the deck, and, with a number 
of others, took a position at the rail. Off toward 
the east was a flat, sandy land-line, and away be- 
yond it, in the distance, an undulating line of purple 
hills and mountains. This was my first glimpse of 
the Holy Land. Our company increased until the 
whole side of the ship was crowded with passengers. 
Presently a buzz of voices ran along the line, 

127 




DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



coining nearer and nearer nntil my ear caught the 
word " diamonds," and I thought some one had ac- 
cidentally dropped a ring into the sea. Not so. A 
lady who the evening before had been harnessed in 
bracelets and bespangled with diamonds had been 
robbed during the night, and her husband demanded 
that all on board should be searched. No one ob- 
jected, but all felt the indignity of being treated as 
suspects because a vain woman did not know where 
not to expose her jewels. The evening before the 
deck had swarmed with a suspicious-looking crowd 
of all sorts, who traveled on deck and slept wher- 
ever opportunity offered. The night had been hot, 
and the lady had left her state-room door ajar to 
obtain air. Where, in her folly, she had placed her 
diamonds I did not learn ; but, wherever it was, in 
the morning they were not there. Soon another 
buzz passed along the line. The captain had given 
word that there was a place provided for such 
things, and that they might search him and the 
crew, but not a passenger should be subjected to 
such an insult. So the excitement over the dia- 
monds subsided, and the lady, with red eyes, joined 
the throng at the ship's side, and evidently tried 
not to lose the view, if she had lost her diamonds ; 
but for one sight-seeing there was a wonderfully 
vacant look in her eyes. 

After watching the coast for a long time, Jaffa 

128 



JAFFA AND ENVIRONS 

came in full view — the Joppa of the Scriptures, 
now called Yaf a, meaning " beautiful " ; and as seen 
from the sea it is beautiful. The city is built on 
a commanding rocky eminence. The buildings be- 
gin at the sea, and climb irregularly to the top of 
the cliff, where they are crowned by the governor's 
palace. 

Jaffa's most familiar connections with Bible his- 
tory are to be found in the accounts of the life and 
death of Dorcas, and her restoration to life by 
Peter ; the vision of Peter on the roof of the home 
of Simon the tanner ; the sailing of Jonah for Tar- 
shi'sh (Cadiz in Spain) ; and the landing of the floats 
of wood for the building of Solomon's temple. The 
contract between King Solomon and Hiram, King 
of Tyre, ran thus: "We will cut wood out of 
Lebanon, as much as thou shalt need : and we will 
bring it to thee in floats by sea to Joppa," "and 
will cause it to be discharged there"; "and thou 
shalt carry it up to Jerusalem." The materials 
(wood) used for the rebuilding of the temple under 
Zerubbabel also came from Lebanon to this port. 
The story that Noah's ark was built here is not so 
clearly proven. In the division of the lands, Jaffa 
was given to Dan, and since David's reign has been 
the port of Jerusalem. 

It is a most dangerous port in a storm, the harbor 
being full of shelving rocks, some above and some 

129 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



below the surface of the water. Strictly speaking, 
it is not a harbor, but a roadstead, where vessels 
anchor some distance from the shore. In case of a 
severe storm, passengers are carried on to Hifa, as 
landing them at Jaffa would be impossible; and 
the fear of encountering a storm is a constant 
source of anxiety to tourists on the way to Jerusa- 
lem. We had an object-lesson of the danger of this 
port in the wreck of a ship that went to pieces on 
the rocks a few days before. Nearly all on board 
were lost, and the shore was strewn with wreckage. 

Our great ship slowed up and then cast anchor 
about a mile out to sea. Wharves are rarely seen 
in the Old World. The sea was growing rough, 
and the little boats from shore came rolling and 
rocking over the waves toward us. 

After much crowding and pushing at the gang- 
way, a boat gained a position and the debarkation 
began. It was no pleasant affair. It requires good 
management to board one of these wriggling, tip- 
ping rowboats when on top of the wave. If you miss 
the right moment, the boat may hit the ship and 
dance out to sea again. Some declared they were 
literally dropped into the little crafts by those assist- 
ing them. In a degree, I dare say it was true. The 
timid are never ready for anything at the right 
time, and waiting for them seldom improves matters. 
It is the quick and determined movement that wins. 

130 



JAFFA AND ENVIRONS 

After landing came a scene of turmoil and con- 
fusion at the custom-house. At length we managed 
to pass our trunks ; and while a man was cording 
them to the pack-saddle of a poor little donkey, 
one trunk hanging on one side and the other on the 
other, we took a carriage for the hotel, and we had 
the mortification of seeing the ambitious little car- 
rier of our possessions pass us long before we 
reached our place of destination. 

Admire Jaffa all you can in the distance, — so say 
all travelers, — for the moment you set foot in the 
city the illusion is gone and you find the usual 
Oriental ragged rabble, dirt, and donkeys. 

I cannot well classify our hotel. We say at 
home of an exceedingly poor hotel that it is fourth- 
rate. Our fourth-rate hotels would be first-rate in 
Jaffa. But I am ungrateful. They gave us an 
upper room opening on a corridor, from which we 
had a fine view of an intensely interesting country. 
Our food was probably as good as could be had. 
There were no bad odors. One with a little larger 
experience than ourselves remarked, " It is too 
early in the season for smells. Come later." 

After rest and dinner we started out with a drag- 
oman to " do Jaffa." Every one goes to see Miss 
Arnot's school, the Armenian convent, and Simon's 
house — or, at least, he is expected to. Our way 
led up and down narrow, hot, dusty streets. We 

131 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



took a look at the two first-mentioned buildings 
from the outside, but we faithfully continued our 
course to Simon's house. In the court is a well, 
one of the proofs that this is the veritable spot, as 
water is a necessity for tanning purposes. The 
well was deep and had an abundance of water. 
The stone curbing showed accumulated years of 
service by the deep furrows worn into it by the 
ropes that had been used in elevating the water. 
Another proof is that there are tanneries near this 
house, and that business places rarely change local- 
ities in this unchanging Old World. 

Near the well we climbed a rough stone stairway 
leading to the flat roof of the house. There Peter 
slept when he saw the vision of the sheet let down 
from heaven, showing him the universality of the 
gospel dispensation and that the distinction between 
Jew and Grentile had ceased. If this be not the 
identical roof, it is unquestionably like it and occu- 
pies the same position. After traveling through 
the narrow, crowded, hot streets, what a relief to 
find ourselves on this roof, with a broad expanse 
of sea spread out before us, and a cool, refreshing 
breeze! We could not but compare mentally 
Peter's accommodations— abundance of fresh air, 
a roof under him, and the starry heavens above 
him — with those which we were to have on visiting 
J affa centuries later. 

132 



JAFFA AND ENVIRONS 

This seems to be our best opportunity to call 
attention to the tradition which says that An- 
dromeda was here chained to a low, flat rock stand- 
ing up out of the water, near the shore, in full 
view from Simon's house, and that it is not more 
than three hundred years since the identical chains 
were to be seen. It is well to observe that tradition 
says this. 

The routine of our visit being over, we turned 
our thoughts to modern Jaffa ; and to our astonish- 
ment we found it had no walls, the Turks having 
sold them for building materials, for which purpose 
they had been used. We found, upon inquiry, that 
the entire population was estimated at about 
twenty-five thousand, of which about one thousand 
are Christians and the rest mostly Jews and Mo- 
hammedans. And right here I wish to say that, 
under Turkish rule, exact information is almost 
out of the question, and from this on I shall make 
no apology for any inaccuracies ; I have written of 
things and places as I have seen them, or from such 
information as I have gained from sources that 
ought to be reliable. 

The orange-groves and fruit-gardens about Jaffa 
are luxuriant and beautiful. There are hundreds 
of these groves and gardens, containing not only 
oranges, but pomegranates, lemons, and other fruit. 
At the time of our visit the orange-trees were bend- 

133 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



ing under a heavy burden of luscious golden egg- 
shaped fruit, some of the larger oranges measuring 
from twelve to fourteen inches in circumference. 
The trees were in perfect condition, the bark clean, 
and the leaves large and glossy. The soil in which 
they grew was black and rich, and weeds were not 
allowed to take its strength. There was a freshness 
and brightness of color about these trees that I do 
not remember seeing in our much-praised groves 
in Florida. The groves contain each from five to 
fifteen acres, and are inclosed with rows of prickly 
cactus. 

I had seen cactus-hedges of large growth before I 
saw those in Jaffa, but never such monstrous plants. 
I should judge that some of them were fifteen feet 
high, their trunks a foot or more in diameter, and 
their leaves as large as a small-sized meat-platter, 
and nearly the same shape. We have in America 
a variety of the same species, commonly called 
"prickly-pear," which is but a miniature in size 
when compared with those to be seen in the hedges 
that inclose the fruit-gardens of Jaffa. 

I was told that a few years ago a number of 
Americans started a colony at Jaffa, with the inten- 
tion of cultivating the land and with their produce 
supplying the needs of the rapidly increasing visi- 
tors to Syria. The natives disliked them, and the 
Turkish government, under the plea that they held 

134 



JAFFA AND ENVIRONS 

an imperfect title, took from them the lands they 
had purchased. This act so impoverished the col- 
ony that our government thought it expedient to 
send money for their return home. All returned 
bat one man, and he remained and established a 
Yankee livery-stable and a stage line between Jaffa 
and Jerusalem — something at that time entirely 
new in this portion of the world. He succeeded 
well. There is now a railroad line ; but fortunately 
there were no trains running, and we were spared 
the temptation of rapid travel over one of earth's 
pathways made solemnly impressive by the tread 
of countless millions who have hurried on with their 
errands of hate or love, and at last finished their 
journeying in the final resting-place of all earth- 
born mortals. 



135 



II 



UP TO JERUSALEM 

HE distance from Jaffa up to Jerusalem 
is forty miles. It was thought best for 
those going on horseback to spend a 
night on the way. We preferred going 
by carriage and sleeping in J erusalem, and accord- 
ingly secured seats in a landau drawn by three fine 
iron-gray horses. Three horses and relays were 
necessary on account of the hill and mountain 
roads, Jerusalem being twenty-six hundred feet 
above the Mediterranean, and the last part of the 
journey you climb or descend continually — that is, 
climb a good deal, and now and then descend a 
little. 

It was the 10th of March. A more delightful sun 
never shone on the dewy earth than brightened the 
landscape that morning. For a time our course lay 
through the fruit-groves, and the air was delicious 
with the fragrance of blossoms and alive with the 
song of birds. When we emerged from the orchards 

136 




UP TO JERUSALEM 

we entered the green Plain of Sharon, which 
stretched off to the east till cut short by the hills 
and mountains of Judea, which in the clear atmo- 
sphere seemed quite near at hand. 

We were now fairly on the road to Jerusalem, 
and our imaginations became busy with thoughts 
of the unnumbered thousands who had, in joy or 
sadness, passed over this road. How few of them 
have left a record or a name — not even a footprint ! 
Like the grass they had trodden, they had passed 
away. They had not even been forgotten, for there 
was none to remember; and we called to mind 
the song to the fly : 

" Oh, what a little life is thine ! 
And yet thou spread'st thy glad wing free." 

But here all reverie was cut short by the pleasant- 
voiced dragoman, who began, "Tradition tells us 
that on this spot lived Dorcas." If it had been just 
a little more than tradition I would have listened ; 
but as it was not, and I was a little worn with the 
word, I stepped down from the carriage and gath- 
ered some red anemones ; the ground for yards was 
profusely covered with them. These were my first 
wild flowers in Palestine, and I was delighted and 
surprised, too, when told they were known as the 
"rose of Sharon." I wish the best authorities 
would settle the dispute over the rose of Sharon, 

137 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



that we might know whether or not we ever saw 
one. 

I shall follow with my pen the road from here to 
Jerusalem, believing that others, with myself, will 
be glad to know all that comes to a traveler in pass- 
ing over it. If any one is interested at all in Syria 
or Palestine, it is but reasonable to think he must 
feel a deep interest in this thoroughfare — enough, 
at least, to have an idea of the face of the country 
and some knowledge of the towns and places 
through which it passes. 

The whole Plain of Sharon is without fences, the 
landmarks consisting of heaps of stones of small 
dimensions. The Bible says of these, " Thou shalt 
not remove thy neighbor's landmark." These words 
have proved a better protection of land-lines than 
a wall or fence. 

It was seed-time, and plowing and sowing were 
to be seen in many places. I had often read of the 
plows of Palestine as being the same as those used 
in Abraham's time. How that is I cannot say, but 
the plow now in use is certainly a very rude affair ; 
and to be sure of being clear in describing it, I 
shall use the language of another : " Two poles 
cross each other at the ends next the ground. One 
pole is fastened to the yoke and is used for draw- 
ing ; the other is used by the driver as a plowshare 
at one end and a handle at the other. Only one 

138 



UP TO JERUSALEM 

handle. 1 No man, having put his hand to the plow, 
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.' 
In the other hand he carries a long spear or goad 
with a sharp point for touching up the oxen. It is 
seven or eight feet long, with a sort of spade at the 
other end for scraping the dirt off the plow. This 
spear is thought to explain this passage: 4 It is 
hard for thee to kick against the pricks ' ; and again : 
'Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the 
Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad : and 
he also delivered Israel.' " 

Bee-farming is quite an industry in Palestine, 
and they have an interesting way of carrying it on. 
In March, April, and May the flowers overspread 
Palestine as a garment ; but after the burning heat 
of summer the flowers and grass have withered and 
dried up, and Palestine in the mountain country, 
where the soil is thin, is a wilderness. It is then 
that the bee-farmer closes up his hives, puts them 
on camels, and takes them to the lowlands, where 
they forage on the sweets of the orange-blossoms. 
I was desirous of seeing this bee-emigration; but 
at that time flowers were plentiful in the highlands 
as well as on the plains, and there was no need of 
change. 

The first town of importance to which we came 
was Ramleh. "We stopped for an hour. The coun- 
try around was beautiful, and appeared prosperous 

139 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

— for Palestine. In ancient times the caravans 
from Damascus to Egypt crossed the road from 
Jaffa to Jerusalem at Eamleh. It was also a rest- 
ing-place of the crusaders. Possibly it was Ari- 
mathea of the New Testament. We found there 
a small, clean hotel, with a kitchen-garden in the 
rear, where were blossoming old-fashioned flowers 
— marigolds, wall-flowers, larkspurs, and many 
others familiar from childhood. The place was so 
quiet and restful that I begged to be left while the 
others climbed a tower belonging to the ruins of an 
old church that most religious denominations, from 
Adam to date, claim as belonging to their peculiar 
faith. It pleases me to claim it for the crusaders, 
as there is none to disprove the claim. We will 
call it the " crusaders' church," and leave tradition 
out. The view from this tower is said to be won- 
derful, and I confess I regretted not having made 
the effort, for I would have had a glimpse of 
many places that it was not my privilege to see 
afterward. 

This town always comes back to my memory in 
two distinct pictures — the one I have given, and 
one of horror. I scarcely ever enjoyed an hour 
more fully than I did my hour of rest, and I was 
never more horrified than I was, on leaving the 
hotel, to find myself surrounded, I could not tell 
how, by lepers. They seemed to me to come up 

140 



UP TO JERUSALEM 

out of the very earth. I expected to see lepers in 
Jerusalem, and intended to have my nerves steeled 
to the sight and to make no foolish outcry ; but I 
was taken completely unawares, and I ran with all 
possible speed to the carriage, stood up in the 
middle of it, and screamed. The poor, pitiable 
wretches were there, too, as soon as their shrunk- 
en, distorted limbs could carry them. They sur- 
rounded the carriage, with pails and dishes in their 
hands, — those that had hands, — holding them out 
for money, crying, " Lepras ! lepras ! " Some were 
blind ; some had but one eye ; with some fingers 
were gone, and with others hands were missing; 
and the faces of all were ashen, drawn, and dis- 
torted, with scarcely a trace of humanity left. 
Death is as nothing beside this breathing dry-rot. 
Dead, and yet alive — oh, it is terrible ! The gentle- 
men threw coins into their dishes, which were of all 
sorts and sizes, from a pint cup to a three-quart 
pail. They carry these receptacles that the chari- 
table may give them money without fear of contact 
with the disease. 

After leaving Ramleh we passed the hill boun- 
dary, and in an hour and a half entered the fertile 
Valley of Ajalon, the scene of the rout of the Amo- 
rites by Joshua, and memorable for his command 
to the sun and the moon to stand still : " Sun, stand 
thou still upon Gribeon ; and thou, Moon, in the 

m 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and 
the moon stayed, nntil the people had avenged 
themselves upon their enemies." 

We passed a number of Arab villages. One in 
particular attracted my attention. The buildings, 
one story high, were built of blocks of mud, and 
were mostly without chimney or windows. How 
the roofs were supported I do not know; but on 
them the grass was growing, fresh, green, and lux- 
uriant. The buildings were huddled together, and 
I could not tell where barn began and house left 
off, so it was barn-yard all around. In the midst 
of the filth were a number of high, oval-topped 
ovens — or, at least, I was told they were ovens. I 
wished very much to see the inside of some of these 
houses ; but I confess that, if I had been welcome 
to enter one of them, I should have lacked the 
courage to do so, they were so repulsive to me. 
An acquaintance, however, was more courageous, 
and called at two or three of them. He describes 
one as follows : 

" The family are at dinner on a mat in the court, 
and at once invite us to join them, which we do. 
All are squatted on the ground in the open air, 
around a table six inches high. Their meal consists 
of brown bread, olives, eggs, and dibs (a syrup of 
raisins, which, I believe, is a Bible dish). The na- 
tives have neither plates nor spoons; at least, if 

142 



UP TO JERUSALEM 

they have any, they do not eat with them. They 
double up their scones into a scoop, with which 
they dexterously, and not inelegantly, scoop then- 
food together and transfer it to their mouths." 

Of another visit he says: "We all marched 
through the village, with a great company before 
and behind us, to pay our respects to the sheik. 
The children were singing in chorus, and in 
Arabic : 

1 Christian ! Jew ! 
Very wonderful are yon/ 

The sheik, surrounded by some ten or twelve of the 
elders of the city, received us in state in his mud 
hovel. It had no chimney or windows, and one 
half of it was as dark as night. The rafters were 
heavily laden with soot, which had gathered in the 
form of stalactites. The mud floor was covered 
with old shoes. Holding out his hand, and then 
touching his heart, lips, and head, he said, 1 Salam 
alekum' (interpreted, ' Peace be unto you'). We 
were asked to sit on mud seats, and one of his men 
prepared coffee for us. At the other end of the 
building, in full view, stood a huge camel chew- 
ing his cud. Midway between the camel and us, 
screened by a mud wall six feet high, was his 
harem. Surrounded by his ragged counselors, the 
sheik marched with us through the village to re- 
turn our visit. Seated at the door of our tent, he 

143 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



drank coffee with us, and then declared that we 
were friends, and gave us an armed guard of four 
men. Two of them, with long, ornamented mus- 
kets, were to keep watch while the other two slept. 
Our dragoman was afraid that all four would sleep 
at the same time ; and he told them that if he found 
any one of them asleep while on duty, he would 
have his musket as a fine." 

Near the village of Latron we stopped for lunch 
in a dark, dingy hotel. It was certainly unpleasant 
and disagreeable to be obliged to stop in so dismal 
a place, but I found that I was growing in charity 
toward these places. In nearly all of them there 
was an honest effort to do the best they could for 
us. Palaces are rare where poverty is plentiful. 
Travelers have no right to expect luxuries in such 
a country ; it is unreasonable. 

After lunch I strolled about, as much for exercise 
as anything. In my walk I came to an open door 
where a child-mother stood holding in her arms a 
three-months-old baby. I should judge that the 
mother was not more than fifteen years old. She 
was small in size — a mere child herself. The baby 
was not nearly as large as some dolls carried about 
by children in the home-land ; but it was a wonder- 
fully bright, pretty little thing, with black eyes and 
hair. I spoke to the baby, which greatly pleased the 
mother, and she stood aside for me to go in. The 

144 



UP TO JERUSALEM 

one room seemed to cover all her household posses- 
sions. There were a bed, a box, and a few dishes. 
The bed was covered with a patchwork quilt made 
up of squares of calico pieced together. The whole 
bed, bedstead and all, looked as though it might 
have come from the western world ; but that was all 
that looked so. I was not invited to sit, because 
there was no chair. Spread in the middle of the 
floor was a rug of cheap make, which I suppose the 
family sat upon. I stayed but a moment, and on 
going out gave some pennies to the baby to pay 
for my admittance. As a rule, the poor of all coun- 
tries resent the prying of strangers into their pov- 
erty ; but I think this little woman was very proud 
of her home. 

Latron is about midway between J afTa and Je- 
rusalem. It is said to have been the home of the 
penitent thief. The country was rough, the road 
rocky and in some places none too good. We 
entered Wadi Ali ("wadi" meaning the bed of a 
brook gone dry), and, following it, came to Abu- 
Groosh, a village named after a notorious robber 
who terrorized the country a few years ago. At 
this place we entered the division of land given to 
the tribe of Benjamin. Abu-Groosh was anciently 
Kirjath-jearim, meaning "place of forests," and is 
where the ark rested for twenty years in the house 
of Abinadab. It has recently been remarked by 

145 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



explorers that near this place are to be found the 
only remains of forests in this region of country. 

New interests are hourly added to this wonderful 
highway of the past and present. We are now 
passing over, in all probability, the same road that 
King David passed over, with thirty thousand of 
the chosen men of Israel, when they carried the ark 
to Jerusalem. They sang and danced, and " played 
before the Lord on all manner of instruments made 
of fir-wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and 
on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. . . . 
And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set 
it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that 
David had pitched for it : and David offered burnt- 
offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord." 
From this time began the glory of Israel. 

Not far from Kirjath-jearim there is to be had a 
fine view of Neby Samwil, or Mizpeh, the burial- 
place of the prophet Samuel and the spot where 
Saul was chosen king. It is the highest point in 
central Palestine. After a zigzag descent down 
the mountain-side, we saw to the right, in the midst 
of olive-groves and fruit-gardens, the town of Ain- 
Karin, the most picturesque place between Jaffa 
and J erusalem. It is a town of a few hundred in- 
habitants, mostly Christians. This is claimed to be 
the birthplace of John the Baptist. The main proof 
is that Zacharias, his father, a priest, would live 

146 



UP TO JERUSALEM 

near Jerusalem, " in the hill-country, . . . in a city 
of Juda." A short distance from here is another 
charming place, called Kulonich, thought to be the 
Emmaus of Luke. Here Mary visited Elisabeth. 

A long ascent of an hour and a half, and the 
Mount of Olives was seen; yet another hill, and 
behold, the walls of Jerusalem ! Another descent, 
and we are at the gates of the Holy City. 



147 



Ill 



JERUSALEM STREET SCENES AND ECCE HOMO 

ERTJSALEM, meaning "possession of 
peace," is now called, by the Arabs, 
El Khuds, "the holy." The situation 
is remarkable. The city is surrounded 
on three sides by rocky ravines: the Valley of 
Jehoshaphat on the east, — the brook Kidron ran 
through this valley ; it is now dry, — and the valleys 
of Grihon and Hinnom on the west and south. Its 
general elevation is about twenty-six hundred feet 
above the Mediterranean. The city spreads over 
four mountains — Mount Zion, Mount Acra, Mount 
Moriah, and Mount Bezetha. Jerusalem is sur- 
rounded by a wall thirty-eight feet in height and 
two and a quarter miles in length. This wall has 
thirty-four towers and eight gates. The Golden 
Grate is closed. There has been, within a few years, 
a new opening made in the wall to accommodate 
the Latins, but I know no name for it. The city 
covers an area of about two hundred and ten acres 

148 




JERUSALEM STREET SCENES 

or more, thirty-five or forty of which are occupied 
by Haram esh-Sherif. 

Jerusalem has a mixed population of forty-five 
thousand, made up of Jews, Eussians, Moham- 
medans, Greeks, Christians, and a few of other 
religions. Each sect lives apart from the others. 
The Christians occupy the part of the city north- 
west of Mount Acra, the Mohammedans the 
northeast, and the Jews the southeast. The Jews 
are of Spanish and German origin, and are sup- 
ported mostly by charity. Money is sent to them 
from all parts of the world. The Eothschiids have 
founded a hospital, and there is the Montefiore 
fund to be used for building and agricultural pur- 
poses. There are already many houses built and 
a great quantity of land purchased in the interests 
of the Jews. The highest religious aspiration of 
the devout Jew is to be buried in the sacred soil of 
Jerusalem, and many repair thither, that being their 
principal object in going. 

To make ourselves a little more familiar with the 
city we thought we would make a tour of some of 
the streets. In looking over our map we saw many 
names suggesting Bible associations, as Zion Street, 
David Street, and the Street of the Patriarchs. 
David Street being an important thoroughfare lead- 
ing from the Jaffa Gate to the Mosque of Omar, we 
mounted our donkeys at this gate, and as best we 

149 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

could rode down the street. David Street is fifteen 
feet wide and roughly paved, and was at that time 
slippery from the rain that had fallen the night be- 
fore. In fact, I never saw the street when it was in 
any other condition. Besides being narrow, it is made 
still more so by the bazaars on either side, where 
the common necessities of life are offered for sale. 
The refuse of vegetables added greatly to the filth 
in the street, and spoiled onions and cabbages are 
to blame in part for the odors. The space not oc- 
cupied by bazaars is crowded with Arabs, donkeys, 
and camels, with now and then a struggling tourist 
squeezed in between them. 

The average width of the streets is ten feet; 
many are even narrower ; some of them are mere 
tunnels, being arched overhead, with now and then 
an opening cut through the cover for light and air. 

In passing along one narrow, dark street, our 
attention was called to a door leading to a window- 
less room, where people who were without shelter 
for the night were permitted to sleep. At high 
noon of a pleasant day there was but mere twilight 
in this street, and I had to stop and look sharply 
before I could distinguish the door in the wall of 
the street to this place of refuge, the place being as 
dark as night. The furnishing consisted of a hang- 
ing lamp near the door, made of square panes of 
glass, and the glass was so covered with soot and 

150 



JERUSALEM STREET SCENES 

smoke that it looked more as though it were in- 
tended to conceal light rather than to shed it. 

In another dark street we met a Jewish funeral 
procession. The dead body was wrapped in cloth 
and laid on a rude bier, which was carried on the 
shoulders of four men. A half-dozen or more 
poorly clad persons were following on after it. I 
was told there would be no coffin used — that the 
dead of the poor were wrapped in cloth and placed 
in the grave. 

On a sunny corner of another street we came 
upon a money-changer. He had a small pine table, 
destitute of paint or varnish ; on it was a tray of 
coins, and with a pair of scales he was weighing a 
gold coin, while a gentleman stood watching the 
result. Near by was a scribe, perhaps a partner. 
He sat at a small desk that looked as though it 
might have passed through all the sieges of Jeru- 
salem. On the desk were a pen, a bottle of ink, and 
a half-dozen sheets of paper that appeared to have 
been manufactured at the same date as the desk. 
They were in artistic harmony. The scribe was 
resting on his elbow, awaiting a customer. 

In the same block was a grain market. Here a 
tall, thin man with pale face and a worn expression 
was measuring wheat. The wheat was in a heap 
on the floor. He had a half -bushel measure that 
looked as though it had been new sometime. He 

151 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

wearily filled his measure, and from time to time 
shook it, and then pressed the grain down with his 
hands, piling it up until it ran over. I suppose 
that was Scripture measure. 

We next came to a dry-goods bazaar. Here we 
found prints and various kinds of cotton goods. I 
was particularly interested in some shawls of the 
same style I had seen worn by young girls in Jeru- 
salem. They folded them half square, and wore 
them thrown over their heads. They were of soft 
worsted, cream color, and barred off in large 
squares with satin. The border was covered with 
pink roses and buds and green leaves, and looked 
so bright and alive where so much had been struck 
with gray death, that I purchased one. I have 
not yet found out just what to do with it; I am 
afraid I shall have to buy a Jerusalem girl to 
wear it. 

Passing on, we came to an open space, where 
there were a few stones a foot or more square. 
On these stones sat a half-dozen healthy, contented 
men smoking narghiles. I have seen plenty of 
idleness, but never such luxurious noonday idle- 
ness before. While musing on the smokers, a little 
girl possibly not more than eight years of age came 
tripping along with a small basket on her arm; 
she was so closely veiled that not a feature could 
be discerned through the veil, which was of a party- 

152 




VIA DOLOROSA. 



JERUSALEM STREET SCENES 

colored goods as thick as cheese-cloth. She very 
jauntily wore a sailor hat. 

Turning a corner we found ourselves in Via 
Dolorosa, or " Street of Pain," and followed it until 
we came to the Convent of Ecce Homo. At the en- 
trance we were given into the custody of two sweet- 
faced nuns, who showed us the wonders of the 
place. We went to the roof and had a new view 
of the city, then to the basement and saw the pave- 
ment of the ancient Via Dolorosa, or at least they 
said it was, and it bore so much more evidence in 
favor of the story than so many other things that 
we were glad to believe something, and so we did. 
We bought a few little pearl crosses, the make of 
the institution, and took our leave. 



153 



IV 



CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER, DOME 
OF THE ROCK, EL-AKSA, AND 
SOLOMON'S STABLES 

HEX Helena, the mother of Constantine, 
came to Jerusalem in answer to a vi- 
sion, she found on the spot where now 
stands the Church of the Holy Sepulcher 
a temple dedicated to Venus. It was built, in all 
probability, by the Romans to show their contempt 
for Christianity. This temple was destroyed by 
Constantine and a church erected in its place. 
The church has been destroyed, in whole or in part, 
a number of times. The present edifice dates from 
1810. It is a wonderful structure, of great size, 
and surmounted by an immense dome. The out- 
side appears old and time-worn. The space in 
front of the entrance is occupied by dealers in 
crosses, rosaries, glass beads for the neck, glass 
bracelets from Hebron, and other trinkets. 

The Holy Sepulcher is directly under the great 

154 




CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER 

dome. It is situated in a small chapel, and is en- 
tered through a low door. The chapel is incased in 
marble. Whether Jesus was ever laid there or not, 
no one knows ; certainly no one knows that he was 
not laid there, and it is a place for tender considera- 
tion. As for rehearsing the many incidents that are 
claimed to have occurred within the territory in- 
closed and covered by the church, I have not the 
slightest idea of doing so. It is enough to force a 
reasonable person into infidelity. 

We made our way all through the church, but we 
were a number of times crowded and jostled by pro- 
cessions, and by crowds that were not processions ; 
but at last we came out with our lives, and our 
clothes on, and that is much better than a great 
many others have done. And here we were again 
brought to feel the strong hand of Islam. At the 
start we met soldiers in Turkish uniform and armed 
with rifles guarding the entrance, and others were 
stationed at different places throughout the church ; 
a Moslem carries the keys and unlocks the church 
in the morning, and locks it again at night. And 
this a Christian church in Palestine! And the 
shameful fact of the whole truth is, it is necessary 
to do this to keep Christians from killing one 
another ! It is time that Christians were Chris- 
tianized. 

The mosque or shrine called the Dome of the 

155 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



Kock, and popularly known as the Mosque of 
Omar, is built on part of the area of Solomon's 
temple. It is octagonal in shape, and crowned with 
a dome, and above it rises a bronze crescent. The 
sides of the structure are incased in rich marbles. 
The dome is covered with glazed Persian tiles, and 
a frieze of tiles runs around the entire structure, on 
which are written passages from the Koran. The 
dome is ninety-eight feet high and thirty-six in 
diameter, and paved in marble mosaics. 

There are fifty-six brilliantly stained glass win- 
dows, made in mosaic effects. There are four por- 
tals, facing the cardinal points of the compass. 
This costly edifice was erected to cover the Sakh- 
rah, or sacred rock. At the principal entrance we 
were asked to put on mosque-slippers. In all sa- 
cred Mohammedan edifices, like mosques and tomb- 
mosques, Christians may not enter without first 
putting on the mosque-slippers. If they are large 
enough — and they usually are — you are allowed to 
put them on over your shoes ; if not, you must re- 
move your shoes. You wear these slippers so that 
you may not defile the mosque. It is rather amusing 
to see a dozen or more shuffling along in this holy 
foot-gear, and every few steps leave one behind. 
In such cases just how the defilement is avoided I 
do not know, unless there is absolution in the franc 
you have paid for the use of the slippers. I have 

156 



CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER 

never known any defiled money in the East. It 
would take an artist to walk in this kind of foot- 
covering and keep up with the nimble retailer of 
the wonders of the place. 

The interior decorations were mostly of mosaics 
in the strong, rich colors of the East. Some of the 
designs, especially in the dome, reminded me of 
cashmere patterns. The purity of Arabian art of 
this kind consists chiefly in the fact that it is sug- 
gestive of no definite meaning; only a pleasing 
effect is sought. The free use of color is allowed, 
and the ceilings and walls of mosques are illumi- 
nated in the gorgeous coloring of the East, and not 
only color is used, but gold, in a most unsparing 
manner. Here we are again forcibly reminded that 
Mohammed waged a merciless war against idol- 
worship. All reproductions of natural forms are 
classed under the head of idolatry, be it the image 
of man or beast, plant or tree. Sometimes there is 
to be seen a sort of conventional foliation inter- 
mingled with their inscriptions in chapels and 
mosques, but never to the extent of producing 
natural effects. Their designs for ornamentation 
are composed of symmetrical forms made up of 
curves and angles and lines ingeniously inter- 
woven. 

The sacred rock is directly under the dome. It 
is fifty-seven feet long, forty-three feet wide, and 

157 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



six feet high, and surrounded by a strong iron 
fence. This rock has many traditions. The Mo- 
hammedans claim that from it Mohammed made 
his flight to heaven. The Jews claim that it was 
on this rock that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacri- 
fice, and near it was the threshing-floor of Araunah 
the Jebusite ; here Israel offered sacrifice, and after- 
ward it was used for burnt-offering for the temple 
of Solomon. There is yet another full page of 
traditions. 

This mosque is one of the great structures of the 
world and well worthy of a visit. 

To the south of the Dome of the Eock is the 
Mosque of El-Aksa. It was originally built by 
Justinian in honor of the Virgin. It is now a 
basilica in architecture, and in marked contrast 
with the Dome of the Eock. Traditions omitted. 

On leaving El-Aksa we descended into a subter- 
ranean, structure known as Solomon's Stables. I 
believe the title to this name is not admitted to be 
quite clear, but we will accept it, and omit the use 
of a word that begins to fret us. If King Solomon 
had fifty thousand chariot-horses, he must have 
had extensive private stables for the family horses 
in use by his numerous wives and children. Per- 
haps he did not need quite forty thousand for this 
use, but it must have been a goodly number, as it 
is not to be expected that any of his wives would 

153 



CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER 

have been reduced to the necessity of using a 
second-hand horse turned away even by a favorite 
wife ; so I think I have a clear case that this place 
was a private stable belonging to Solomon's palace. 
It is a vast structure, at all events, twenty-eight 
feet high, with vaulted roof supported by one hun- 
dred massive stone piers. Some have suggested 
that they once supported a part of the temple area ; 
but the proof is wanting, and I will not admit of it, 
and, besides, it would thrust me back on tradition, 
and I am not able to bear it. If I have to endure 
any more traditions, I propose to make them my- 
self. Having cleared up to my satisfaction the 
title to an important place, I choose to return to 
the hotel before I am beaten out of the only relia- 
ble knowledge I have secured since I entered the 
capital of traditions. 



159 



V 



THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, BETHANY, AND 
THE JUDEAN HILLS 

NE evening at the hotel a party was 
made up for an excursion to the Dead 
Sea and the Jordan. There should 
have been a passable carriage-road all 
the way, but there was not. The unusually heavy 
rains of early spring had caused washouts and land- 
slides until it was out of the question to go by car- 
riage, so of course it must be another horseback 
party. I had been clinging to the side of some 
tricky donkey or vicious mule, or, still worse, a 
backing or bolting horse, until I would hardly have 
consented to visit Paradise if it were necessary to 
ride a beast of any kind. The time agreed upon 
was " day after to-morrow." The decision was fa- 
vorable to me, for it gave me an opportunity to 
consider which I preferred — to remain alone at the 
hotel, or walk from Jerusalem to Jericho. 

Next day, Dr. Palmer came and said he had 
found something, and desired me to go and look at 

160 




OLIVET AND THE JUDEAN HILLS 

it. He led the way to a livery-stable. In the court 
were two men examining what looked like the box 
and top of what we call at home a buggy. It was 
a small affair, just large enough to seat one person 
comfortably. It bore evidences of long retirement ; 
the cover was old and torn, and the body covered 
with cobwebs and dust. I asked where the wheels 
were, and one gentleman said, "It doesn't have 
any; that is why it can be used in going to the 
Dead Sea and the Jordan." Then they explained 
that the carriage was attached to two long poles, 
one half of the poles reaching out behind, and the 
other half reaching out in front ; and the marvel of 
it all was that one mule was placed between these 
poles behind, and the other one in front. I objected 
to the cover as being liable to leak either sun or 
rain. They said they would wash the woodwork 
and put on a new cover, as they had the material 
on hand. A bargain was made, and I suggested 
that if we wished to be certain that the repairing 
would be done we had better remain and see the 
work on the little buggy begun. I was promptly 
corrected, and told it was not a buggy; it was a 
" palanquin." I had seen and read of palanquins, 
but they were not like that. After seeing the old 
cover torn off, and with the " tap, tap " of the tack- 
hammer sounding pleasantly in our ears, we left to 
make preparations for the excursion. 

161 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



The next morning we were up betimes. It was 
cloudy at first, but cleared, and we had ideal 
weather. Looking out of the window, I saw my 
establishment waiting for me. There was the pa- 
lanquin with its black, shining top, and two fine- 
looking mules with monstrous high pack-saddles. 
The mules were fastened to the poles the same as 
to the thills of a carriage, only one mule was behind, 
facing the vehicle, and the other in front, facing 
the Jordan. Beside each mule stood a clean, com- 
fortably clad Arab, picked men. This was my 
Oriental tandem, and, as a Palestine turnout, it was 
" swell." I was not only thankful and happy, but 
also proud, and immediately went to take possession. 
A chair was furnished me, and I climbed into the 
conveyance. A small hand-satchel, a shawl, and an 
umbrella were fitted in' around me, and the space 
was filled. 

It was a little difficult at first to accommodate 
myself to the motion of the mules ; but I soon be- 
came accustomed to my new mode of travel, and 
felt quite at home as I followed on after the horse- 
back-riders and pack-mules. There were about 
fifty persons, all told, twenty horses, six mules with 
supplies, and the palanquin outfit. 

We went by the way of the Mount of Olives, 
which lies directly east of Jerusalem. We crossed 
the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and began the ascent. 

162 



OLIVET AND THE JUDEAN HILLS 

In a little time we passed Gethseniane, the " Garden 
of Prayer." It is in such a smart-looking inclo- 
snre one would never imagine it to be the place 
of our Saviour's agony as spoken of in the Bible. 
I had previously visited it, and had found it impos- 
sible to bring myself to feel that it had ever been a 
sacred place. It impressed me more as being an 
over-improved corner of some summer resort. 

This mount, which was once covered with gar- 
dens and olive-orchards, is now strewn with stones, 
with only now and then an olive-tree. The heavy 
tax on olive-trees has discouraged the natives from 
raising them. 

The summit of the Mount of Olives is the tradi- 
tional place of our Lord's ascension. There we find 
a tower, offering a most remarkable view of Jerusa- 
lem. From the top of the tower can be seen Mount 
Zion in the west, with its citadel. " Beautiful for 
situation is Mount Zion." " The joy of the whole 
earth is Mount Zion." Mount Moriah in the east, 
with its mosque and great dome. The Church of 
the Holy Sepulcher off to the northwest, with its 
great dome also, and countless smaller ones that 
finish nearly every housetop ; last and highest, 
the minarets. And all framed in by gray walls, 
and the mountains round about Jerusalem. A 
grand and inspiring picture ! From this tower can 
be seen a long list of historical localities in Pales- 

163 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



tine, but I will not attempt to describe them at this 
time. 

We now descend the east slope, and near Bethany, 
perhaps a part of Bethany, we are shown the site 
of the house of Mary and Martha, a sunny, pleasant 
situation. Near by it is the tomb of Lazarus. We 
descend twenty or more steps, and find ourselves in 
a prayer-chapel at one side ; and three steps lower 
is the place of the tomb, a dismal and depressing 
place. Let me be buried where the sun will shine 
on my grave. 

At Bethany a sheik was to take command of the 
expedition. This placed us under the protection of 
the Turkish government, and is supposed to be a 
safeguard against molestation. The sheik was an 
old man ; he came out to meet us, but his son, heir 
apparent, was to accompany us. At our appearance 
the son came galloping down the hill at a speed 
that would astonish an American Indian, wheeled 
in front of the palanquin, and saluted me. I sup- 
pose he thought it the most important part of the 
excursion. 

The Oriental is very observing and appreciative 
of anything unusual, especially if it happens to 
be of a costly nature. A very small affair counts 
with him; he at once interprets it as an evidence 
of distinction. The salute came so unexpectedly 
and with such a dash that for once I did not know 

164 



OLIVET AND THE JUDEAN HILLS 

what to say, and in the astonishment of the mo- 
ment bowed and, lifting my hand, gave him a wave, 
Naples fashion. He smiled with satisfaction. Per- 
haps he thought it a distinguished way of returning 
a salute. If you would see a fine-looking Oriental, 
look at this young man in official attire, sitting his 
black steed like a high-born prince. 

Beyond Bethany we climbed a hill, but most of 
our course was naturally downward. About half- 
way between Jerusalem and Jericho our commissary 
served us with luncheon at a khan which probably 
occupies the same site as the inn referred to in the 
parable of the Good Samaritan. After leaving this 
khan the scenery was rough and rugged in the ex- 
treme. The road ran along the side of the moun- 
tain, and at the left was a deep gorge, through which 
runs a beautiful winding stream ; it is called the 
brook Cherith. Away down below us, six hundred 
feet or more, the dragoman says, the ravens fed 
Elijah. All along the way, where there is sufficient 
soil for the growth of flowers, they cover the rocks 
and roadsides like a blanket. Oh, the beautiful 
flowers of Palestine ! 

In looking from the Judean hills just before 
making the last steep descent to the valley, we have 
a unique view. One of the historical landscapes of 
the world expands before us. With a field-glass 
every feature of it is distinctly visible ; without the 

165 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



glass the picture is still very beautiful and diver- 
sified. At our feet lies the plain of Jordan. At a 
glance we see where stood ancient Jericho and Gil- 
gal, and in thought we rebuild and repeople them. 
On our right and to the south lies the lake-like Dead 
Sea, whose lifeless, sailless water covers Sodom and 
Gomorrah, the wicked cities of the plain. To the 
east stretch the purple mountains of Moab. Perched 
on a dome-like elevation are the ruins of Castle 
Machserus, where John the Baptist was beheaded 
by order of Herod. Near the same spot David left, 
at the time of Absalom's rebellion, his father and 
mother under the protection of the King of Moab. 
Still higher is Nebo. "And Moses went up from 
the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to 
the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho." On 
our left and to the north stands Quarantania, the 
traditional Mount of Temptation. Rising almost 
perpendicularly fifteen hundred feet, it is a bold 
cliff and nearly bare of vegetation. " And the devil, 
taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto 
him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of 
time." Through the plain runs the sacred Jordan, 
born of the melting snows and gushing springs of 
Mount Hermon, a hundred miles away. 

We could not turn from this commanding scene ; 
we insisted on a satisfactory view and a little time 

166 



OLIVET AND THE JUDEAN HILLS 

for thought ; and the rest of the cavalcade left us. 
Descending at last into the valley, we found, to our 
sorrow, that we had left the good road behind. The 
spring rains had been excessive ; the streams were 
swollen and overflowing. 



167 



VI 



THE PLAINS OF JORDAN, OLD JERICHO, 
AND GILGAL 

UR next place of destination was Jeri- 
cho, the chief city of ancient Canaan. 
We had not gone far when our sheik 
came galloping back, and said that the 
road was impassable for the " carriage 79 ; more than 
that, it was dangerous ; and I must turn back and 
go to New Jericho (ancient Gilgal), where we were to 
pass the night. The sheik was commander-in-chief 
of the expedition, and his word was law ; but I was 
so disappointed that I begged and begged hard to 
go on. He scowled and protested. I insisted, and 
told him that I had paid to go to Old Jericho, and 
that to go to New Jericho aud not to Old Jericho 
would be just no Jericho at all, and that I was going. 
He gave a half -consent, — not quite half, — and I told 
the muleteer to go on. 

The traveling was desperate and the path as slip- 
pery as paint. In a short time we came to a steep, 

168 




OLD JERICHO AND GILGAL 

rocky place. To the right it was like a wall ; to the 
left it was down, down. The mules slipped continu- 
ally and carried the palanquin along by jerks. The 
muleteers tried to hold them up, but it was of no 
use. We had scrambled along in this way about 
half-way up the ascent when down went the first 
mule. The palanquin followed, bringing down the 
other mule, which completed the tableau. If the 
animals had struggled we all should have gone down 
the bank together ; but they were as motionless as 
if dead, and so was I. "Whether the dragoman gave 
some signal or not, I do not know ; I was too much 
interested in my situation to be able to tell. At any 
rate, in a moment's time the conductor and the sheik 
were both on the spot, and, to my astonishment, the 
sheik was both patient and pleasant and did all 
he could to disentangle the procession. He even 
praised me ; he said I was a good traveler and did 
not scream. 

After gaining my feet, I tried walking for a way, 
but found it tiresome, and had barely seated my- 
self again in the palanquin when I saw below me 
a stream running like mad. It was the brook 
Cherith. I thought, however, I would not cross 
it until there, and took a good look at my sur- 
roundings. Close by was the place where Achan 
was stoned, and all that belonged to him burned, on 
account of his theft of the mantle of the king of the 

169 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



Canaanites, " two hundred shekels of silver, and a 
wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight." At the 
brook I was kindly offered a horse with which to 
ford it, and, remembering my experience at the 
rocks, I gladly accepted. 

Very little is to be seen at the site of ancient 
Jericho. There is a trace of an old wall, and 
mounds containing stone and sun-dried brick. 
From under one wall, perhaps in a little better 
condition than the rest, pours a spring called Eli- 
sha's Fountain. It is supposed to be the bitter 
waters which made the country barren around them 
until Elisha healed them. The walls of the city 
were of stone, and it is thought they were not over 
two miles in circumference. 

As the Bible story tells us, the destruction of Jeri- 
cho was complete. Joshua sent out of Shittim two 
men, saying, " Gro view the land, even Jericho. And 
they went, and came into a harlot's house, named 
Eahab, and lodged there. . . . And before they were 
laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof ; 
and she said, . . . Now therefore, I pray you, swear 
unto me by the Lord, since I have showed you kind- 
ness, that ye will also show kindness unto my father's 
house. . . . And the men answered her, Our life for 
yours, if ye utter not this our business. . . . And it 
came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early 
about the dawning of the day, and compassed the 

170 



OLD JERICHO AND GILGAL 

city after the same manner seven times. And . . . 
Joshua said unto the people, Shout ; for the Lord 
hath given you the city. ... So the people shouted 
when the priests blew with the trumpets [of rams' 
horns] : and it came to pass, when the people heard 
the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted 
with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that 
the people went up into the city, . . . and brought 
out Eahab, and her father, and her mother, and 
her brethren, and all that she had. . . . And they 
burned the city with fire, and all that was therein : 
only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of 
brass and of iron, they put into the treasury." 

There is no trace of Eahab's home. She was 
probably an innkeeper, and was called by an ill 
name " because innkeepers of old were generally 
of that class. Eahab, however, must have been an 
exception, as she subsequently married a prince in 
Judah, and became the mother of Boaz, who was 
husband of Ruth and head of the house of David, 
through whom, in the fullness of time, the Messiah 
came." 

Back of the ruins of Jericho is the Mount of 
Temptation. The side of the mountain toward the 
plain is burrowed with caves, natural and artificial, 
and numbering hundreds. They were the abodes 
of early Christians and hermits who, either from 
persecution or choice, sought a life of seclusion in 

171 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



this rugged mountain, that they might live in 
closer communion with their Grod. These caves 
are still sometimes visited during Lent by the de- 
vout, where they spend forty days, in imitation of 
the mysterious fasting of our Lord. For want of 
care the path leading to these cells has become im- 
passable without the aid of ropes and an assistant, 
and even then the ascent is hazardous. 

I am told that in some places there are curious 
frescoed chapels, one picture representing an angel 
distributing white robes to the saints for the resur- 
rection, and that in other places there are grottoes 
containing the bones and ashes of the monks who 
spent their lives and died there. In the olden time 
the dwellers in these caves used to follow a beauti- 
ful custom of putting at night lighted lamps in the 
little windows of their cavern homes and thus illu- 
minating the whole face of the mountain. At the 
summit is the ruin of a Christian convent. The 
crusaders named the mountain Quarantania, and it 
is only since their time that it has been called the 
Mount of Temptation. 

It was four o'clock in the afternoon when we 
turned into another slippery path, leading to 
modern Jericho. This path was also narrow and 
overhung with the limbs of dwarf thorn-trees and 
branches of weeds. It was all the animals could 
do to drag the carriage through; the limbs and 

172 



OLD JERICHO AND GILGAL 

branches clung to it and scratched the sides, and it 
was more than I could do to keep them out of my 
face. 

I wondered sometimes during this struggle, and 
especially as we neared the site of the Jericho of 
the Romans, whether we might not be passing 
through the gardens of Cleopatra given her by the 
enamoured Antony. But there were no palm-trees, 
no cultivation of balm, henna, or camphor; this 
great fertility produced only the rankest of a natural 
growth of vegetation; but in the times of culti- 
vation and prosperity it must have been mag- 
nificent. 

I had read that along this route were to be found 
the false apples of Sodom ; and when not engaged 
in fighting the thorns from my face I was diligent 
in looking for these yellow apples, that explode 
when touched, and yield nothing but dust and 
ashes. It was not apple-time, however, and my 
search was not rewarded. 

But my eye caught sight of something familiar 
— the mallow, whose fruit is popularly called, by 
children at home, cheese. In my native State the 
plant would not average more than a foot in height, 
and the disk-shaped fruit would not measure more 
than three eighths of an inch in diameter, the leaf 
about the size of a dollar. In this richer soil and 
in this climate it grew higher than my head, with 

173 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



leaves as broad as my hand and fruit as large 
around as a nickel. 

We passed through an opening in a cactus-hedge, 
and found ourselves in the edge of a Bedouin 
village. Here I saw a small plot of ground about 
the size of a vegetable-garden, and a man appa- 
rently planting some kind of seed. This was the 
only spot I saw in the plain of the Jordan that 
showed, any signs of cultivation. I asked the 
dragoman if they allowed all this fertility to go to 
waste. He said every other year it slept; and I 
concluded this must be the sleepy year, and could 
not imagine why such strength in soil should require 
to sleep half the time. 

As we passed through this poor, distressed place, 
where dirty, vicious-looking people were peering 
through the doorways or loafing about them, I feared 
I should have to sleep in some vile place and eat vile 
food. But leaving the village behind, we passed 
through a gate into a yard where there were barns, 
and beyond them through another gate, where we 
found low, whitewashed buildings and pleasant 
grass-grown grounds, with orange-trees in blossom 
and a trellis covered with a grape-vine in full leaf. 
A few yards away was a tower-like structure called 
the House of Zaccheus. Most travelers find " an 
oasis in the desert " ; this was ours. 

These houses are made of clay or sun-dried brick, 

174 



OLD JERICHO AND GILGAL 

then plastered over inside and out, walls, roofs, 
floors, and all, with some kind of cement. No wood 
was to be seen, except in the window-sash and doors. 
The windows were barred on the outside with strong 
irons. Over the door of the main building was a 
porch with a seat on either side, and a vine of some 
kind climbed up at one end of it. 

Gentlemen with their wives, and ladies alone, oc- 
cupied this main building. Then there was another 
building with dining-rooni and kitchen, and yet a 
third, where only gentlemen slept. 

Our room was furnished with two single beds, two 
chairs, a small wash-stand, a seven-by-nine mirror, 
and a dot of a table. In front of the beds were 
spread rush rugs, and the windows had white cur- 
tains. Everything was as clean as possible. 

We were given tea at once, and in the midst of 
our tea-drinking two great dogs of the St. Bernard 
color, yellow and white, came strolling in, followed 
by a monster Eussian cat with bushy fur. The 
three passed along from one to another, the dogs 
wagging their tails in the most friendly manner, 
and the cat purring in bass. These dogs and an 
Arab, who lay all night on a rug stretched across 
the doorway under the porch, were our night- 
watchmen. 

The order of the evening was dinner and to bed. 
I went to sleep thinking over the program for the 

175 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



coming day: "We shall breakfast promptly at 
eight, and at nine start for the Dead Sea." 

Forgetting to feel afraid, as would have been 
proper, I slept soundly all night ; and awakening a 
little after sunrise, and knowing the value and the 
shortness of our time, I dressed and went out to 
look over the camping-ground of Joshua, this being 
Gilgal. 

Joshua rose early over on the other side of J or- 
dan, and after three days his people, following the 
ark, passed through Jordan, and came to this place, 
where they set up the twelve stones they were com- 
manded to take from the river as a monument 
of divine assistance in crossing. Here God com- 
manded the rite of circumcision, which had been 
neglected in the wilderness, that all might partake 
of the coming feast of the Passover. This having 
been done, " The Lord said unto Joshua, This day 
have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off 
you. Wherefore the name of the place is called 
Gilgal unto this day." And they kept the Passover 
" on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the 
plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn 
of the land on the morrow after the Passover, un- 
leavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame 
day. And the manna ceased on the morrow." The 
Israelites were in the Land of Promise, and they 
were fed no more on manna. 

176 



OLD JERICHO AND GILGAL 

Near here Joshua met the captain of the host of 
the Lord, and was instructed how to take Jericho, 
that the Canaanites might know it was not of man 
but through the arm of the Lord they were de- 
stroyed; and early next morning Joshua marched 
against J ericho. 

I like to think of these thoroughgoing Israelites, 
who were out betimes in the morning, with their 
lungs full of fresh air and their muscles abounding 
in strength. 

But there is more about Gilgal. Saul was here 
publicly proclaimed king, after first being privately 
crowned at Eamah ; in time the assemblies of Sam- 
uel and Saul were celebrated in this place ; and 
when David came back from exile, after the death 
of Absalom, the whole tribe of Judah met here and 
then went and conducted him over the Jordan. 

Nor is this all — but I hear the breakfast-bell and 
the soft step of feet behind me, and turn to see 
that the faithful dogs had escorted me during my 
morning walk, and the Eussian cat was leisurely 
following them, her long, shaggy fur wet with the 
morning dew. 



177 



VII 



THE DEAD SEA 

OT far from the hotel we had to ford 
a rapid stream; after that the whole 
journey was a sunny pleasure. Herds 
of cattle and flocks of sheep were graz- 
ing, each kept together by a single Bedouin armed 
with a long gun. From time to time we passed 
their tent homes, made of coarsely woven white- 
and-black-striped camel's-hair cloth. In the mid- 
dle of the tent was an opening, and the tent-cloth 
was turned back for a doorway. This door-side 
is placed so as to be the most protected from the 
wind. We passed directly in front of one of them, 
and had a good view of the interior. All I could 
see within were a few dirty rugs and two or three 
utensils I judged were used for cooking. Outside 
the tent was a pot boiling independently of any 
care. The women were without veils, as is usual 
in the country. 

178 




THE DEAD SEA 



The farther we went, the poorer became the soil 
and the more scanty the vegetation, until we left the 
tents and herds all behind, and came into an un- 
even, barren tract, with but here and there a gray 
little shrub. Near the sea it was stony, and the 
earth crusted and glistening with salt. 

At the sea at last, I paused to collect my thoughts. 
I could scarcely realize it was the Dead Sea. I had 
read so much of its solemn silence, its dismal sur- 
roundings and furnace-heated atmosphere, that this 
seemed not the place at all about which I had read. 
There was a delightful breeze, and sparkling waves 
broke on the shore at my feet, and their voice was 
as musical as that of any other waters. 

The mountains of Moab, that rose grandly like a 
wall from the sea on the east, were full of color, 
and so were the hills of Judea on the west ; and a 
few miles south and east, where I did not go, but 
much desired to, they tell me there are laughing 
streams, and flowering shrubs where singing-birds 
build their nests and hatch their young. As I 
cannot go farther south to see the pleasant things 
of which I am told, I will deal with the stern facts 
that are near me. 

I am standing thirteen hundred and seventeen 
feet below the ocean-level, in the lowest depression 
on our globe trod by the foot of man. The sea be- 
fore me is forty-six miles long, from nine to ten 

179 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

wide, and over thirteen hundred feet in the deepest 
place, the depth varying according to the season of 
the year. The water-line on the shore is settling 
and the sea growing deeper year by year, giving 
evidence of the sinking of the bottom. It has 
no known outlet. The Jordan discharges into it 
twenty million cubic feet of water, on an average, 
daily ; this is evaporated mostly during the extreme 
heat of summer, when the mercury at times rises to 
120°. The water is the heaviest of which there is 
any record, weighing twelve and a half pounds to 
the gallon, against nine and a half pounds of dis- 
tilled water. This is owing to the large quantities 
of mineral salts held in solution, and which render 
life in it impossible. It is clear as crystal and 
beautiful to look upon, but bitter and salt to taste, 
and disagreeable after contact. Swimmers seem 
never fully prepared for its density, and the pranks 
it plays with them are often very amusing. 

Many claim that Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities 
of the plain, were situated on the north instead of 
the south end of the sea; but positive proofs cer- 
tainly must be scarce. One theorist explains where 
these cities stood and how they disappeared, and 
calls your attention to volcanic evidences of de- 
struction ; others claim that petroleum, which must 
have existed in ancient times as well as the present, 
was the element of combustion in the vicinity ; still 

180 



THE DEAD SEA 



others explain the unhappy fixation of Lot's dis- 
obedient wife as due to a ge3 r ser-like downpour 
of salt water, promptly incrusting the unfortunate 
lady and forming of her a pillar of salt. The ex- 
planations are many and contradictory. One may 
as well imagine one's self near the place where 
these cities were destroyed and, reading the Bible 
for information, construct a theory of his own. 

At night-time, when the sea is agitated by wind, 
the water will be all aglow with phosphorescent 
light, producing the most weird effects as the waves 
break upon the shore. 

We sat on the driftwood which the J ordan brings 
down in the time of its floods, and ate our lunch. 
The trees were entirely free from bark, and as clean 
as a New England kitchen. Lunch over, we filled 
some bottles with sea-water and started for the ford 
of J ordan. 



181 



VIII 



THE JORDAN AND THE RETURN 
TO JERUSALEM 




[E way was stony at first, then sandy 
and overgrown with shrubs and thistles, 
with sand-hills here and there, and chan- 
nels and holes with miry bottoms. De- 



scending into one of these, the mules began to sink 
into a u slimy pit," and kept sinking and sinking un- 
til I began to think the pit bottomless and that we 
should all be lost together. At last the palanquin 
turned over, and I crawled out and walked to firmer 
ground by way of one of the thills. The animals 
must have had many a lesson of this sort, for they 
seemed to understand the method of rescue as well 
as those who assisted them. 

This was my last misfortune ; and here, lest from 
all these mishaps some one may gain the impression 
that I thought ill of my conveyance, I wish to say 
I liked it. It is true your fate and that of your 
carriage are the same: if the mules slip, you are 
jolted ; if they go down, you go with them ; but they 

182 



THE JORDAN 

usually go down one at a time (which gives you a 
little chance to make the most of the situation), and 
the palanquin breaks the fall and keeps you out of 
the mud and dust. While all this is most uncom- 
fortable and sometimes dangerous, it rarely happens 
that you are badly injured; and when the expedi- 
tion is prosperous, you are sheltered from the sun 
and rain, and are without a thought or care for the 
management of the animals that carry you, and can 
look and meditate with composure. 

How is it about the horses 1 During the season 
those that furnish them search the country far and 
near, and hire every horse, mule, and donkey that 
is to be hired. They average all the way from 
fairly good to wretched. The saddles are a bad 
lot, in all conditions of disrepair, and slippery as 
glass. There is always a turmoil when making 
selections. The one with the quickest eye and the 
most perseverance usually secures the best beast. 
But this is only a part of the trouble. One mounts 
a horse to ride for days together. He may have a 
torturing gait and not the least idea of what you 
want of him. His training and your notion of man- 
agement are not at all in harmony. If he goes too 
fast (which he is not likely to do) and you bridle him 
up, he will back. If, wishing to turn to the right, you 
pull the right rein, he will turn around to the left. 
If you pull the left rein he will turn to the right. 

183 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

After one such experience, — having been waltzed 
round and round, and then backed into the limbs of 
an olive-tree, to leave my hat in its branches, and 
to find myself, like Absalom, hanged by the hair of 
the head, — on my liberation by a kindly hand, I was 
calmly told that if I wished to go to the right I must 
pull the left rein gently against the horse's neck, and 
if to the left I must pull the right rein in the same 
manner. I asked for further information, and was 
told to leave the reins loose and let the horse 
go as he pleased. Now, this was all very well if I 
kept my mind on the horse; but if I became in 
the least interested in anything around me, and 
forgot my instructions, there was trouble at once. 
So a muleteer was engaged to take charge of the 
beast. 

A few days after this experience I met a lady 
with whom I became acquainted on shipboard. 
Her face was covered with bruises, and she said 
her limbs and body were in the same condition. 
She and her untried horse had rolled down a preci- 
pice together. American ladies are bad riders and 
poor walkers. Accustomed to ride in carriages, 
they would do better to make use of them when 
possible; but when a wheeled conveyance is not 
available, a palanquin is the next best thing to be 
used. The most serious objection to a palanquin 
is that it has no steps, and when away from khans 

184 



THE JORDAN 

and hotels an attendant has to stoop to let the 
traveler step on his back and climb in as best he 
can. Snch service is humiliating to the attendant 
and embarrassing to the recipient. A little stool 
carried along would obviate all this ; but in Pales- 
tine Arabs are cheaper than wood. 

The course of the Jordan may be traced all its 
way through the plain by the trees and bushes 
which grow in great variety along its margin. As 
I rode along my mind turned to its physical features, 
and I remembered that the Jordan has three sources : 
one at Hasbeiya, which is the most northerly, com- 
ing out from Hermon ; another in a large spring at 
Dan; the third at Banias, near ancient Caesarea 
Philippi. The Jews acknowledge no other source 
than this. These springs unite their waters in the 
Huleh marshes and thus create the Upper Jordan, 
which flows in a stream down from these marshes 
to Merom, passing through it, and from Merom to 
the Sea of Galilee, and through that also. Again 
resuming its course in a rocky channel, it plunges 
over more than forty cascades and waterfalls, mak- 
ing a descent in all of three thousand feet, and 
covering in its tortuous windings a distance of two 
hundred miles — in a straight line from Hasbeiya it 
would be little more than one hundred — before it 
rushes into the Dead Sea. Even then its turbid 
waters can be traced in a muddy line for a mile or 

185 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



two before they mingle with the clear waters of the 
sea and are lost forever. 

I took no note of time from the Dead Sea to the 
ford of the J ordan, but, including what we lost at 
the " slimy pit," I should judge that we consumed 
two hours in making the journey. My first view 
of the Jordan was disappointing, yet I never lost 
my interest in it. The approach was marshy and 
difficult. The river was swollen and muddy from 
recent rains, was running rapidly, and overflowed 
its banks. Yet it seemed narrow. I kept trying 
in vain to find a better place from which to see it. 
The bushes shut out the view, and the horse I had 
borrowed was restless and would not be quiet long 
enough to allow the breaking of a twig from a 
blossoming tree, so I tore off the whole branch as 
I went. 

This remarkable river, without vessels, commerce, 
or any prosperous city, has a most extraordinary 
history. I stopped to think of it when I got to 
dry ground. The first Testament chapter I ever 
learned began : " In those days came John the Bap- 
tist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and say- 
ing, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand." To me at that time "wilderness" meant 
nothing but woods — a grand forest. "When I 
learned about John baptizing Jesus in the Jordan 
I made another picture of a clear, running river 

186 



THE JORDAN 

with grassy banks and beautiful trees; and I 
thought when I went to the Jordan (which could 
not be very far away, as I had heard so much about 
it) I should sit under one of those fine trees and 
read Bible stories. Here when the Israelites came 
to the river it divided, and here David was escorted 
over by the tribes after Absalom's death. Above 
all, I wanted to see the place where Elijah smote 
the waters with his mantle and they parted, and 
where, after he went to heaven in a chariot of fire, 
Elisha, when alone, used Elijah's cloak to separate 
the waters, and he too crossed on dry land. And 
there I was, where all these wonderful events had 
transpired, and one greater than any of these, the 
baptism of Jesus ; but the reality was sadly inferior 
to the pictures of my imagination. 

Great numbers come here during Easter week, 
from all parts of the world, to bathe. I trust the 
waters may run clearer by Eastertime. Ex-Consul 
De Haas gives the following graphic account of the 
bathing : 

" On the Monday of Passion "Week the number is 
incredible. Hundreds of tents dot the plain, and 
thousands of pilgrims from every part of the 
Orient, some on foot, others on horses, — some- 
times a whole family on a mule or camel, — come 
to perform this religious rite. They usually first 
camp on the higher banks of the Jordan near 

187 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



Jericho, recalling the tents of Israel when first 
pitched near this same spot, and in the early 
dawn, by the light of the moon and numerous 
torches, guarded by Turkish soldiers, they resume 
their pilgrimage for the river ; and as the first rays 
of the morning sun flash along the Judean moun- 
tains, the mixed multitude, men, women, and chil- 
dren, — red, black, and white, — plunge themselves 
into the turbid waters, in the firm though supersti- 
tious faith that all their sins shall be washed away. 
Some bathe entirely nude, but most of them in 
white dresses, which they carefully preserve, and 
never wear again until attired therein for burial. 
With them the great end of life has been attained. 
They have made the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, 
have bathed in the sacred Jordan, and now have 
nothing more to do but return home and die." 

The plain at the ford is fifteen miles wide. In 
such a depression, and walled in on all sides, the 
heat in summer is terrific. The mercury in the 
shade will remain above 100° for days together. 
The sun, like a ball of fire, burns and parches 
everything within its influence. Yet in the winter 
and early spring the climate is delightful, the air 
is pure and exhilarating, and not even the exhala- 
tions from the Dead Sea are considered detrimental 
to health. There is little rain ; the nights are dry, 
and sleep refreshing. 

188 



THE JORDAN 

The lowering sun warned us that our visit to the 
ford must come to an end, so we turned our faces 
toward our oasis, and, following a trail, we arrived 
at our little hotel about five o'clock, where we found 
a cheerful sight — a table covered with spotless linen, 
decorated with vases of gayest wild flowers, and 
spread with as good a dinner as Palestine could 
furnish. We gathered around it with as much 
homelike feeling as though we had been natives of 
the valley. 

An amusing circumstance happened just as we 
were finishing our meal. Our party was made up 
for the trip only, and we were of many creeds 
and climes, and sometimes not altogether lovable 
toward one another ; but we had had a happy day 
and a good dinner. One of the ladies, who was sup- 
posed to do everything as it should be done, said 
she thought it would suit the occasion well to read 
a chapter from the Bible and afterward sing appro- 
priate hymns. This was agreed to by all, and we 
had changed from a lively story-telling mood to one 
of though tfuln ess, and were "dilating with proper 
emotions," when the conductor of the party came in 
and asked us to write some words of praise in his 
day-book. Now he had pleased some of the party, 
but others he had not pleased, so we could not write 
unanimously. Some said one thing, some another ; 
some would not write at all. A discussion followed, 

189 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

and sides were taken ; the affair grew warm. The 
exemplary lady got into a pet and went to bed. The 
rest soon followed, and the Bible, alas ! went unread 
and the hymns unsung. 

Another early rising, another bustle of prepara- 
tion, and we regretfully left the plains of Jericho, 
sparkling in the morning dew, and began the long 
ascent to Jerusalem. From the point whence we 
had our first view of the valley, we bade it adieu. 
Very soon we saw before us the tower on the 
Mount of Olives. It kept in view the most of the 
day, seeming ever near, and yet we did not reach 
it till toward night. This day we took our lunch 
at the Apostles' Spring, and here we witnessed a 
little Italian stratagem. Our conductor was an 
Italian. From some place he produced a hubble- 
bubble, and invited all the ladies to try it, " just to 
say you have in the East smoked a hubble-bubble." 

It is interesting to see how eager some are to do 
the unusual, while others will cling steadfastly to 
home ideas and home ways. Soon there was an- 
other and greater diversity of opinion than that 
which had occurred the evening before over the 
day-book affair. Some thought it a disgrace for 
ladies to smoke ; others had seen it done in Spain, 
and thought it no harm. At this juncture the 
Italian said in the most convincing way that it was 
a nice thing to do ; he had seen the Princess of Wales 

190 



THE JORDAN 

many times sitting in the corridor of Shepheard's 
Hotel in Cairo smoking cigarettes — certainly a 
startling bit of news ; but it won bis case, and won 
speedily. In a few minutes the Italian saw the most 
of bis opponents smoking a Turkisb water-pipe. 

A few miles more brought us to the walls of 
Jerusalem, where we each went our way, and, I 
trust, with no unkindly feeling toward one another. 
And here ended my experience of traveling with 
a party. Its advantages are that it gives mutual 
protection under dangerous circumstances, and 
many times one forms pleasant and lasting ac- 
quaintances. On the other hand, it brings people 
of different views and manners of living into dis- 
agreeably close contact. 

I will not close this chapter without a word of 
praise for my Arab attendants. They were the 
most faithful of servants. They never shirked a 
hardship or tried to skip a single duty during the 
three long days' journey they served me. On ac- 
count of the narrow and crooked road and my slow 
way of travel, they were many times my only visi- 
ble protectors; but I never felt the least fear. I 
usually carried a little luncheon in my hand-satchel, 
and often shared it with them, and, despite the 
difference in our religion, they ate it. At times I 
carried on with them wordless conversations, and 
they would show me nameless places of interest, 

191 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



which I readily recognized from previous know- 
ledge or from pictures I had seen. I knew they 
would want a little present when back in Jerusalem, 
and they knew they would get it, and they had a 
right to expect it. 

There are some kinds of service that have no 
price and are not included in the bill. All through 
this land of hard and exhausting travel you receive 
in emergencies care and kindness wholly unthought 
of and unbargained for. How some people can slip 
from their horse and glide into the hotel, and never 
give a faithful attendant a single cent, and then fill 
the air with complaints about bakshish, which they 
do not give, is far more than I can understand. 
Faithful personal service deserves personal reward. 



192 



IX 



AN ORIENTAL WEDDING 

NE day I was told that in the neighbor- 
hood during the coming evening there 
was to be the consummation of a 
Mohammedam marriage, and that the 
household had been invited, and through courtesy 
I had been included in the invitation. This was 
passing good fortune, and I was delighted. Trav- 
elers in the East have but few opportunities of 
having even a glimpse of the home life and cus- 
toms of the Orientals. 

The contracting parties were from the commer- 
cial class and were prosperous. I was told that 
this was the third day of the feasting and festivities 
at the home of the groom, and the final ceremony 
would begin at eight o'clock the coming evening 
and finish at midnight. During all this feasting at 
the home of the bridegroom the bride sat in her 
father's house with closed eyes and face turned to- 
ward the wall, while her father, as occasion required, 

193 




DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

represented her for prayers at the mosque, she not 
being allowed to enter there. This prayer-asking 
was not because the bride elect was of the least con- 
sequence in heaven or earth, but to sanctify the 
marriage ceremony, this being demanded in the 
reading of Mohammedan laws, both religious and 
secular. 

In the evening while waiting I went to the roof, 
as was my custom, to enjoy the cool air. I heard 
peculiar strains of music, and going to the battle- 
ment and looking down into the street, beheld the 
bridal procession already in progress. It was 
headed by a band of music composed of flutes, 
tambourines, and a Turkish drum. The bride was 
walking under a canopy of red silk, accompanied 
by one or two female friends, who walked by her 
side. The curtains of the canopy reached to the 
ground. The canopy was placed on two shafts and 
carried by four men. On each end of the shafts was 
a fancy lantern, and the light of another from within 
shimmered through the silk. Around the canopy 
was a bevy of women and girls. The bride's dower 
had been settled, all contracts signed, and her 
friends were escorting her to the home of her 
future husband. Eich or poor, the bride must 
have a procession. 

The ceremonies of the evening having com- 
menced, we made haste to be present. The dis- 

194 



AN ORIENTAL WEDDING 

tance was short. We soon came to a large stone 
building with a broad entrance. PassiDg in, we 
found ourselves in what might pass for a small 
farm-yard, where the chickens slept — a strange en- 
trance to one from the Occident, but usual here. 
From this yard or court, which was part and por- 
tion of the house, we passed to an inner court, sur- 
rounded by the apartments ; over these apartments 
was a low roof. In this space, open to the sky, we 
were met by ladies, who showed us into the receiv- 
ing-room or salon. This room was crowded with 
women sitting on rugs spread on the floor. 

I was provided with a seat in a window. The 
walls of the house were very thick and the low win- 
dow-sills deep. For this sill had been made a 
tufted red cushion; it was very comfortable, and 
looked pretty, besides. There were a few chairs in 
the middle of the room, used by men, dignitaries of 
the ceremony ; not one of them was occupied by a 
woman. At one side of the room was a little stage, 
raised a foot or more above the floor ; on this sat 
the musicians, the chief of whom was a large Abys- 
sinian woman, who was said to have the finest voice 
in Jerusalem. She was black, black, having never 
used any of Mme. Ruppert's bleach or any other 
process known for turning black people white. 
There were three or four beating a strange little 
drum, the singer leading with her voice, singing 

195 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

in a weird tone, to a monotonous tune, the differ- 
ent love-songs of the country. The rest of the 
guests all joined at times, at the same time 
clapping their hands, thus keeping time with the 
small, rude instruments used. Their songs, like 
those sung by the negroes at home, seemed to have 
no end, and the singers would go on until exhausted 
and for want of breath they stopped. Then some 
began smoking; others ate oranges, candies, and 
other sweetmeats, with which they seemed to have 
been provided. There was no formal passing, but 
each divided with his neighbor. I am not over- 
nice, but three days is a long time for handling 
candy, and I confess to having found eating rather a 
difficult process ; but respecting the customs of the 
country, and remembering that " in acting well our 
part all the honor lies," the undesired sweets were 
accepted. 

About nine o'clock the bridegroom came from the 
mosque, accompanied by companions and a band of 
music. When they were in the distance a weird 
cry could be heard ; I was told it was, " Behold, the 
bridegroom cometh." "When this cry came nearer, 
all the women but near relatives donned a white 
wrapping, the same in appearance as a sheet, cov- 
ering themselves completely, all but their eyes. 
Then they escaped to the low roof surrounding the 
court, and squatted on it. It was a strange and pic- 

196 



AN ORIENTAL WEDDING 

turesque sight. The chairs in the middle of the 
room were now occupied by the bridegroom, his 
father, and his uncles. Coffee was passed to the 
men only. Then the mother and two sisters, 
handsomely dressed, and with long, lighted altar- 
candles, danced to music in front of the bridegroom. 
After this the male relatives made him presents of 
gold coins, varying in value, I should judge, from 
ten to twenty dollars. The Abyssinian woman and 
others sang, and the time wore on till nearly twelve 
o'clock. Every one looked worn out, and nearly all 
the children had fallen asleep. Where was the bride 
all this time f Hidden away in an apartment, with 
her eyes closed. 

Again there was a prolonged cry similar to the 
one heard when the bridegroom was approaching ; 
and looking, I saw the bride had made her appear- 
ance in the court. Her dress was of Oriental 
silk, purple in color, with a figure in gold. On her 
head was a high crown of artificial flowers, and 
over her face a red veil dotted with gold. Her 
face appeared to have been washed with some 
glossy solution, and pieces of gilt paper cut in 
little squares had been pasted around her eyes and 
over her eyebrows. Her hands were stained with 
henna in a lace pattern and in the form of mitts. 
Around her neck were two strings of gold coins, not 
large, reaching to the bottom of her waist. They 

197 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



were her dowry, in part or whole. These coins 
were absolutely hers ; they could not be taken from 
her even to pay the debts of her lord and master. 

She was accompanied by two deeply wrinkled, 
haggish-looking old women. One walked behind 
and carried a sickle-shaped sword over her head. 
This was to indicate that she was now to come 
under authority. The other walked by her side 
and beat a small drum close to her ear. This 
must have been to show how much of a racket she 
could stand. This is a guess ; I did not learn its 
real significance. The bride, with closed eyes and 
a swaying motion of her head, came in the direc- 
tion of the drawing-room. Her step was so slow 
and measured that it was difficult at times to dis- 
cover whether she moved at all or not. This was 
probably to add solemnity to the occasion, and 
helped to fill the wait till midnight. After a long 
time she reached the center of the court. Then 
the bridegroom, who from the first had not changed 
his position, arose and, accompanied by an uncle, 
went to meet her, and removing her veil, looked for 
the first time on the face of his bride. He tucked 
a corner of the veil in his necktie, letting it fall over 
his bosom, returned to the seat he had left, and re- 
sumed his former position. Neither from look nor 
action could any one tell whether his heart was 
filled with happiness or otherwise. 

198 



AN ORIENTAL WEDDING 



In any case, he was not left without hope ; he had 
three more chances. The drum was still beating 
and the cry for the bride still continued, loud and 
shrill, until the chair intended for her was reached ; 
then the new mother and a new sister turned her 
around and saw her safely seated. All was silent 
for a few moments. The clock struck twelve. 
They arose, and, whether from accident or the 
custom of the people, he took her by the little 
finger of the left hand, and with her eyes still 
closed he led her toward the apartments from 
which she had come. The wedding ceremonies were 
over, and the guests departed. 

At the proper time, accompanied by a young lady, 
I made the wedding call. There were half a dozen 
chairs in a row across the middle of the room for 
callers, and, a little way in front, one for the bride. 
She wore a crown of flowers for this occasion, but 
it was moderately high. Her dress was of cream- 
colored shalli. The bride and the young lady 
carried on the conversation, the young lady acting 
as interpreter. The bride asked the young lady if 
I thought she "looked nice and was handsome." 
The young lady informed her I did. She seemed 
pleased. Coffee was served in tiny china cups, and 
we took our leave. "When coffee is served in the 
Orient it is an indication that the visit or interview 
is finished. 

199 



X 



BETHLEHEM-THE KING OF ISRAEL 

E left Jerusalem for Bethlehem by the 
way of the Jaffa Grate. The distance 
between the two cities is just six even 
miles, and there is a fine carriage-road 
all the way. The country is pleasant, productive, 
and well cultivated. 

We first turned aside a little to see the Fullers' 
Fields. All there is to be seen is an oblong cistern 
of water situated in a rough piece of ground. The 
next object of interest were the Pools of Solomon. 
We shortened the distance to them by leaving the 
carriage and crossing the fields. The spring rains 
had so softened the earth that the walk proved a 
disagreeable one. The pools or cisterns (there are 
three of them) are made of masonry and are of 
great size. They were nearly full of water, and 
have done service since Solomon's time. They 
once furnished water for Jerusalem, and do now, I 
believe, for Bethlehem. About a mile from Beth- 

200 




BETHLEHEM — THE KING OF ISRAEL 



lehem is the tomb of Rachel, a small, square, dome- 
covered structure built by the roadside, which is 
sometimes used as a mosque. 

From time to time we left the carriage to obtain 
a better view of historical places : the Shepherds' 
Fields, "where shepherds watched their flocks by 
night " ; the Fields of the Gleaners, the scene of 
the meeting of Ruth and Boaz ; and David's "Well. 
" Oh that one would give me drink of the water 
of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate ! " 
At Bethlehem David was anointed king of the 
Israelites. 

The scenery here is picturesque. The city with 
its church and immense convents crowning a lofty 
elevation, the sloping hills with their rows of thrifty 
olive-trees and vine-covered terraces, combined to 
produce a beautiful picture. 

"We entered the city through an archway, where 
there was a great press of people. The town has 
eight or nine thousand inhabitants, and is as busi- 
nesslike as some of our growing towns in the West. 
They manufacture great quantities of small articles 
bought by tourists. Bethlehem is " the lucky web 
that catches all the flies." All who go to Palestine 
go to Bethlehem, and all who go to Bethlehem are 
buyers. 

We visited a number of pretty shops; but the 
object of our visit was not to shop, but to see the 

201 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



Church and the Grrotto of the Nativity. A little 
way beyond the shops we came to a group of large 
buildings. The group consists of the Church of the 
Nativity, the Latin, Greek, and Armenian convents. 

The nave of the Church of the Nativity is the 
" oldest monument of Christian architecture in the 
world," and is free to Christians from all countries. 
It was erected by the Empress Helena (mother of 
Constantine), 327 a.d. Some of the columns were 
brought from the temple in Jerusalem. 

The grotto is situated beneath the church. There 
is a long, dark, narrow passageway leading down to 
it. We descended by means of thirteen steps cut 
in the solid rock. The monk guiding us carried 
two flickering lights. At the bottom of the steps 
we found ourselves in a little chapel with sixteen 
richly wrought silver lamps burning at the altar. 
The room is low, thirty-eight feet long and eleven 
wide. It is incased with precious marbles. So, 
too, are the altars, which are hung with embroi- 
deries and furnished with the articles usually seen 
on an altar. A silver star inlaid in the marble 
floor marks the spot where Jesus was born. Ac- 
companying the star is the inscription : " Hie de 
Yirgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est"; trans- 
lated, " Here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin 
Mary." It was once a natural cave, and most 
people wish it was so now. When we think of 

202 



BETHLEHEM— THE KING OF ISRAEL 



Christ in a manger this is altogether an over- 
dressed place. 

There were a great many pilgrims in Bethlehem 
at the time we were there, and the little chapel at 
times was badly crowded with individual visitors, 
and sometimes with processions numbering a dozen 
or more, carrying lights and singing. They seemed 
to be passing from place to place in the different 
buildings. 

It was difficult to obtain a good view, but some 
were easily satisfied, and by yielding our places 
once or twice and then returning to them, we gained 
a very good idea of the grotto. 

It is the least disputed of any of the "holy 
stations" I know of in Palestine. The country 
around has many of these caves, but as far back 
as it is possible to gain evidence, this place has 
been admitted to be the spot where Christ was 
born ; so we forgave the finery and tried to imagine 
it as it was, and then passed on to the Chapel of 
St. Jerome. This chapel was hewn out of solid 
rock, and was the cell of the saint for over thirty 
years. Here he fasted and prayed, studied and 
worked. From this place his letters and commen- 
taries went out on their mission to the world, 
here his last communion, as represented by Domeni- 
chino, was taken, and from here his spirit ascended 
to heaven. 

203 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

We were no sooner on the street than the boys 
surrounded us and urged us to buy carvings in 
mother-of-pearl and olive-wood — beads, bracelets, 
rosaries, crucifixes, and various other articles 
pretty for presents or to keep as mementos. 
They were wonderfully fine-looking boys, with 
bright eyes and smiling faces, and were not easily 
discouraged. They followed us to our carriage, 
well knowing that when we were seated out of 
reach of the pushing crowd we would buy ; and we 
did. Wise little merchants of Bethlehem ! 

We found the crowding at the arch on leaving 
about the same as we did on arriving; but once 
through, our way was free, and with our minds 
teeming with stories of the past, and quite unmind- 
ful of the present, we soon covered the distance to 
Jerusalem, and arrived just as the darkness was 
coming down on its time-stained walls, 



204 



XI 



PALM SUNDAY AND GOLGOTHA 

AWOKE with the dawn Palm Sunday, 
and with light step ascended the stairs 
to the roof to see the sun rise over 
Olivet. There was no living soul to be 
seen or sound to be heard ; all was stillness, Jeru- 
salem was yet sleeping. It is sublime to be alone 
with God and survey the mountains and valleys he 
has made, and in quiet the imagination drifts freely 
on. The Sabbath of Israel, when the gates of the 
city were closed, and sweet, welcome rest came to 
toiling thousands, is realized as it was never real- 
ized before. 

There is not a cloud in high heaven to announce 
the coming sun, but the gray light of dawn is fad- 
ing to the white light of day, and with our face 
turned eastward we watch in motionless expecta- 
tion. A bright curve of light is seen over the brow 
of Olivet. It is the sun! The golden light now 
touches the minarets, now the domes, and now the 

205 




DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



walls of the city. A moment of enchantment. It 
climbs higher, and now its golden light is descend- 
ing into the shadowy Valley of Jehoshaphat, where 
rest the dead of many generations. Day is inaugu- 
rated, and the round golden sun begins its west- 
ward journey across the heavens. 

We imagine it was a Sabbath like this when 
Jesus, coming down Olivet, was met by the multi- 
tude bearing palm-branches and shouting, "Ho- 
sanna to the Son of David ! " and in imagination see 
them follow him through the Beautiful Gate and 
enter the temple. Stop here, swift wing of thought. 
In the full light of day and the quiet of night we 
again view the mountains and valleys, and before 
the awakening to life again of the silent city we 
quietly depart from the place that has given us one 
of the most impressive scenes in Christ Land. 

The city is full to overflowing with pilgrims and 
tourists, and we shall not add to the dangerous 
crowding at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but 
attend service at the Presbyterian mission in the 
morning, and in the afternoon go to Golgotha ; we 
have been there once, but desire to go again. 

The Greeks observe Monday, the Persians Tues- 
day, the Assyrians Wednesday, the Egyptians 
Thursday, the Turks Friday, the Jews Saturday, 
and the Christians Sunday ; thus there is a perpet- 
ual Sabbath being celebrated on earth. 

206 



PALM SUNDAY AND GOLGOTHA 



Golgotha is an oval-shaped elevation little larger 
than a knoll. It is covered with grass, and sheep 
may be seen grazing there. On the south side is 
the Grotto of Jeremiah. It is claimed that here he 
wrote the Book of Lamentations. The place now 
belongs to the Moslems, and there are a few Arab 
graves to be seen. Everything belongs to the Mos- 
lems ; the sultan says he owns Palestine. Golgotha 
is believed by men of knowledge and wisdom to be 
the scene of our Saviour's crucifixion. Whether 
the finding of a mosaic map of Jerusalem in an an- 
cient church at Madaba will lead to further light on 
the subject I do not know ; I hope it may. I some- 
times feel that only God, who lives in eternity, will 
ever know. 

A short distance north, on the Nablus road, are 
the tombs of the judges and kings. They are rock 
tombs, and a very interesting place to visit ; but a 
detailed description would be of great length and 
difficult to understand. I was most interested in 
the rolling stone at the entrance of a tomb ; it is 
supposed to be the same kind as the one used at 
the tomb of our Lord. It was a large, flat, round, 
dressed stone, the most like a millstone of anything 
I can compare it to ; it stood on its edge, side to the 
wall. There was a groove cut in the rock beneath 
it, in which to roll it to and from the entrance. A 
very different stone from the one I had imagined. 

207 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

Off to the right is the sloping side of Mount 
Scopus, where Titus encamped with his army ; and 
from this mount the siege of Jerusalem was com- 
menced, which ended in reducing the city to smol- 
dering ruins. 

One Tuesday morning I saw three gentlemen, 
mounted and with their attendants, turn into the 
path road leading to Nablus. They were fine 
horsemen, all of them. They wore long, wide, 
white scarfs over their hats, with the ends hanging 
down over their shoulders, to protect them from 
the sun. I watched them follow along the crooked, 
stony path until they were out of sight; then I 
found myself alone in Jerusalem. It was a bitter 
disappointment to me not to see " blue Galilee," but 
even the offer of a palanquin could not induce me 
to take so fatiguing a journey. I must have rest 
or fall by the wayside. But I shall take rest through 
change. I wish to know more about the sultan ; I 
wish to know more about the sultan's government, 
and I wish to know a great deal more about the 
sultan's religion ; and I shall improve the coming 
days in informing myself, as best I can, in regard 
to them. 



208 



MEMORIES OF GALILEE 



[By permission of H. B. P.] 
I 

Each cooing dove and sighing bough, 
That makes the eve so blest to me, 

Has something far diviner now : 
It bears me back to Galilee. 

n 

Each flow'ry glen and mossy dell, 
Where happy birds in song agree, 

Through sunny morn the praises tell 
Of sights and sounds in Galilee. 

m 

And when I read the thrilling lore 
Of Him who walked upon the sea, 

I long, oh, how I long once more 
To follow Him in Galilee ! 



209 



XII 



MOHAMMEDANS AND HOLY WARS 

HERE are so many names given to the 
followers of the Mohammedan faith, I 
think it necessary to a good start that 
we understand their true meaning. 
" Mohammedan " is from the Arabic Mohammad, 
highly praised, praiseworthy. 

A Moslem, or Muslim, is a true believer in the 
Mohammedan faith; from salama, to submit to 
God, to resign one's self to the divine will. 
A Mussulman is one who is orthodox. 
"Islam" is from salama, submitting, resigning 
one's self to the divine disposal; the religion of 
Mohammed and also the whole body of those who 
profess this faith throughout the world. They are 
given still another name, "the Faithful," and for 
good reasons. 

We have previously spoken of the birth and pa- 
rentage of Mohammed. Some of the best authorities 

210 




MOHAMMEDANS AND HOLY WARS 



do not give the date of his birth, it being uncertain, 
but think it was about a.d. 570. 

Mohammed died at Medina, in the sixty-second 
year of his age, and was entombed where he died. 
His tomb is a shrine, a place of saint-worship, 
among the Mohammedans. 

He claimed lineage from Abraham through Ish- 
mael. His father died before his birth. In his 
youth Mohammed tended sheep, and afterward 
traveled with a commercial caravan belonging to 
his uncle. This led to his being employed by a rich 
widow by the name of Khadigo. She was so im- 
pressed by his noble bearing that she offered her- 
self to him in marriage, and, woman-like, clung to 
him through the ills and misfortunes of his eventful 
life. Her sympathy and money aided him to do 
what he could not have accomplished without them. 
Although after her death he married a number of 
wives, and by debasing women left a black, unfor- 
givable blot upon his name and the religion he 
founded, yet we must credit him with being faith- 
ful, while she lived, to the woman that helped him 
to eminence. 

From a child Mohammed was subject to epileptic 
fits or trances, and when in this state he imagined 
he saw visions and heard voices from heaven. It 
was not, however, until he was about forty years 
of age that he tried to establish his new religion. 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



He had but few followers at the time of the hejira, 
or his flight to Medina, where he fled for personal 
safety in a.d. 622. From this time Mohammedans 
date their era, as Christians do from the birth of 
Christ; and from this time forth Mohammed's 
course was one of constant progress. Through a 
vision he took the sword. He claimed that the 
directions of his work came from God. 

The Mohammedan's creed is short: " There is 
no God but God, and Mohammed is his prophet." 
This does away with many gods, and wipes out the 
Christian Trinity. With the Moslem there is no 
hereditary sin and no intercession for sin. Man 
deals directly with his God. The new religion he 
called " Islam," or subjection to God. 

The first and essential principle was the doing 
away with idols. Here he made an inroad on 
pagandom. The next was the lowering of the 
standard of Christian and Jewish morals, thus mak- 
ing his following easy. There is nothing particu- 
larly new in his doctrines. The Mohammedans 
believe in the immortality of the soul, the resurrec- 
tion of the body, predestination, and future punish- 
ment. The Moslem attends to his ablutions, and 
prays, no matter where he is, five times a day and 
at the appointed hours. He believes that Adam 
was created on the evening of the sixth day, and 
so observes Friday as his Sabbath. The Koran 

212 



MOHAMMEDANS AND HOLY WARS 



allows to each believer a plurality of wives, four in 
number. 

During Mohammed's lifetime no attempt was 
made to collect his multitudinous manuscripts into 
one book. These revelations had been preserved on 
palm-leaves and stone tablets and in the memory 
of his followers. Mohammed's teaching and creed 
are very simple. The Koran is made interesting 
from the fact that it is the record of a great religion. 
It is a broken, sketchy work containing many Chris- 
tian and Jewish axioms. 

The Mohammedans, adopting as their motto, 
" God is G-od, and Mohammed is his prophet," started 
out to convert the world. Their policy was to 
proselyte ; when they failed to proselyte, they con- 
vinced with the sword ; when they tired of blood, 
they turned missionaries. They have labored and 
fought with faith and firmness for centuries, and 
with no small result. The spread of Mohamme- 
danism certainly has been marvelous. Moham- 
medans are found in Asia and Africa and scattered 
over portions of Europe, but Arabia and Turkey 
are their chief countries. Some have estimated 
their numbers as being upward of one hundred and 
eighty millions. Exactness in numbers must al- 
ways be quite out of the question, as it is impos- 
sible to come nearer than an estimate. 

The crescent, the new moon, the moon on the in- 

213 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

crease, is the symbol of this faith. It was first used 
as a symbol of Byzantium, and was not used by the 
Mohammedans until after the conquest of Constan- 
tinople; then they adopted it as a symbol repre- 
senting their growing prosperity. Consequently 
the cross and the crescent have been contending 
standards since the fifteenth century. 

Mohammed taught that " the sword is the key to 
heaven, and a drop of blood shed in the cause of 
God, a night spent in arms, is of more avail than 
two months of fasting and prayer. Whosoever falls 
in battle, his sins are forgiven at the day of judgment ; 
his wound shall be as resplendent as vermilion and 
odoriferous as musk, and the loss of his limbs shall 
be supplied with wings of angels and cherubim." 

"Holy wars" were first inaugurated by Mo- 
hammed against the Israelites in Medina, where 
they refused his message and exposed his tamper- 
ing with the Scriptures. With great secrecy and 
stealthy march the troops surrounded Medina and 
stormed the Israelites till they were forced to sur- 
render. Then the prophet ordered a trench dug in 
the market-place. The Israelites, with their hands 
tied behind them, were forced to kneel at the trench, 
where they were beheaded, and their bodies were 
pushed into the place prepared to receive them. 
This slaughter went on in the presence of the pro- 
phet. 

214 



MOHAMMEDANS AND HOLY WARS 

The declaration of " holy wars " is followed by 
the unfurling of the green banner of the prophet, 
which is really the black flag of the Mohammedans, 
and means no dallying, no mercy, but war to the 
death of all unbelievers ; and every one not a Mo- 
hammedan is an unbeliever. 

The story of the flag is this : After the death of 
Mohammed, his wife Ayesha pulled down from the 
door of his room or tent the green silk curtain, 
and gave it to Omar, his successor, commanding 
him to carry it at the front in battle, when war- 
ring against infidels, and it would gain him victory. 
It has been carried in all " holy wars " ever since, 
and with what sickening horror history but too 
faintly depicts. 

The prophet's banner is kept in a box and placed 
in the Chamber of Noble G-arments in the seraglio 
at Constantinople. Once a year the sultan and his 
court visit the chamber and renew their oath of 
allegiance to the flag. It is made of apple-green 
silk, and has embroidered upon it as its motto, 
" Our help is in God." 

" Every Mohammedan is required to be a soldier. 
"With the unfurling of the sanjach sherif, the dreaded 
apple-green flag, every Mohammedan is bound to 
follow it. He casts aside all home ties and consid- 
erations, stifles all dictates of common humanity, 
to become the embodiment of cruelty." This same 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



banner has been raised many times, and been fol- 
lowed by carnage too revolting to describe. 

And now read an official prayer: u O Lord of 
all creatures ! Allah ! destroy the infidels and 
polytheists, thine enemies, the enemies of thy re- 
ligion ! Allah ! make their children orphans, and 
defile their abodes, and cause their feet to slip, and 
give them, and their families, and their house- 
holds, and their women, and their children, and 
their relatives by marriage, and their friends, and 
their possessions, and their race, and their wealth, 
and their lands as booty to the Moslem, Lord of 
all creatures ! " Then add to this, " No enemy is 
entitled to quarter, and all modes of destruction 
are lawful." 

This same religion has made the Mohammedans 
what they are — the most cruel and diabolically 
fiendish sect on the face of the earth. What is 
naturally to be expected will be the result of such 
prayers and such teachings? The appalling mas- 
sacres in Armenia answer the question ; if not, turn 
back but a page or two in history and read of the 
massacre of Christians of Mount Lebanon, Syria. 
At this time eleven thousand Christians perished 
by the sword, four thousand more perished from 
want, three thousand homes were burned, and ten 
million dollars in property destroyed. All persons 

216 



MOHAMMEDANS AND HOLY WARS 



and people who are not Mohammedans are infidels, 
and must be warred against or exterminated ; this 
is the teaching of the Koran, the Mohammedans' 
Bible. When you know what a person or a people 
really believe, then you know what they will do 
when opportunity favors their cause. There is not 
a religious body on earth who more thoroughly live 
their religion than do the Mohammedans; they 
never forget their religion. I was particularly im- 
pressed by this fact when reading an invitation to 
attend the ceremony of commencing work on the 
railroad from Beirut to Damascus. The translation 
is this : 

" By aid of Almighty G-od and his fostering care, 
and by the overshadowing protection of his Impe- 
rial Majesty the Sultan (may G-od help him by his 
victorious power !), the work on the railway from 
Beirut to Damascus will be commenced by a public 
celebration on Thursday, the 19th of Jema-el-ula, 
1310, at 6 : 30 o'clock, Arabic time, in the garden 
near the Lebanon guard-house on the Damascus 
road. 

" The honor of your attendance is requested, that 
you may aid us by your prayers for the success 
of the undertaking. May God Almighty preserve 
you. (Signed) " 

During the ceremonial the Wali of Beirut was 

217 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



handed a silver pickax. He drove the point into 
the ground three times, and declared the work 
opened. At the close of the ceremony they slaugh- 
tered as sacrifice twelve sheep and gave the flesh to 
the poor. 



218 



XIII 



THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND THE SULTAN 

HE Ottoman empire comprehends all 
the countries over which Turkey has 
supremacy. Of course this includes 
Egypt and Palestine. The sultan is 
chief of church and state. All the laws of the em- 
pire are based on the precepts and teaching of the 
Koran. The sultan's will is absolute. 

Military service is compulsory with all Moham- 
medans over eighteen years of age. With few ex- 
ceptions, non-Mohammedans are not liable, but 
must pay an exemption tax. Why? Because the 
government chooses the Faithful for the army, and 
prefers money rather than the uncertain services of 
an unbeliever. 

The sultan's army for political purposes probably 
numbers about four hundred and fifty thousand. 
But in religious war, with the prophet's banner at 
the front, the army would mean every Mohamme- 
dan capable of bearing arms. The Mohammedans 

219 




DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

number upward of one hundred and eighty millions. 
I have no recent count, but some estimate of the 
strength of the sultan's army in time of need can 
be made from these figures. So in case he raises 
the prophet's banner and proclaims a " holy war," 
an extreme measure, every Mohammedan, if called 
for, be he near or far, in Arabia, Persia, Turkey, or 
the islands of the sea, is bound by his religion to 
follow this standard, cost what it may in blood or 
money. The unfurling of this banner would be the 
signal for the coming together of the most fiercely 
fanatical army that any one monarch or ruler in 
the world could bring to his command. This fact 
is kept well in the background, but acts as a re- 
straining influence in considering the question of 
war with Turkey, and explains the slow answers 
coming from the sultan pertaining to massacres 
and all other affairs that have begun in religious 
differences. 

The Mohammedan hates the Christian, and when 
he wishes to amuse himself, he takes a holiday and 
kills off a few hundred or a few thousand in Bul- 
garia, Palestine, or Armenia, in whichever country 
he chooses to hunt. Then the Christian world 
raises its hands in horror, and holds meetings, 
and despatches to the Turkish government long 
demands and commands, and war-ships and gun- 
boats are sent "to make a demonstration"; and 

220 



THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND THE SULTAN 

the Moslem answers by slaughtering more Chris- 
tians. 

We have observed that when Turkey must be 
called to an account it is usually for some reason 
that affects the nations or appeals to their sympa- 
thies. England talks, Eussia talks, and France 
may talk and celebrate the eight hundredth cen- 
tennial of the first crusade, of which Peter the 
Hermit was hero and chief ; but we notice when it 
comes to action they all prefer to take a hand to- 
gether. 

The British empire has a vast population, and 
in it not a few million Mohammedan subjects ; and 
on which side would they be fighting in time of 
" holy war " f India is none too happy in England's 
grasp. Were the British engaged elsewhere, India 
might possibly see her opportunity. Mohammed 
"converted with the sword"; England by blow- 
ing men from the cannon's mouth. There is not 
so much difference. England is more feared than 
loved by many that go to swell her population; 
and she knows it, so she blusters instead of acting. 
If she does attack the sultan, there will be some 
other nation's gunboats in sight besides her own, or 
there will have been " royal visiting " somewhere to 
be explained when help is needed. 

Turkey geographically also holds a position most 
enviable. It is the pivotal point of the hemisphere 

221 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

that contains it, and lies in the natural track of the 
rich commerce of eastern and southern Asia. It is 
jealously watched by the powers of Europe and the 
East, but it is mostly let alone. It does not greatly 
avail for any one power to war against Turkey. 
If successful, which is not probable, all the other 
powers would come in " at the death " and assist in 
the divide; consequently the Christian and com- 
mercial world does not make haste to attack the 
Sultan of Turkey, who is really Calif of Islam. The 
sultan has resources. Add to all this the clause in 
the treaty with the powers at Paris, 1856, repudiat- 
ing any right to interfere with the sultan, collec- 
tively or separately, in the relations of the sultan 
with his subjects or in the internal administration 
of Turkey, and it will explain a great deal not yet 
quite understood. Every movement toward inter- 
ference by Great Britain has been an interference 
by individual officers of the English government, 
and it comes to an emphatic end when it must be 
sustained by the English government. Greece had 
a Christian right to expect aid from Christian lands. 
At the outset her ships at Crete received a broad- 
side from British guns, and her humiliation is too 
great for extended mention from one with a sym- 
pathizing heart. It is easy to understand the 
great interest exhibited in "keeping the peace of 
Europe." 

222 



THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND THE SULTAN 

Abdul-Hamid II., Sultan of Turkey and head of 
the Moslem religion, ascended the throne in 1876. 
He resides at Constantinople, and occupies the Dol- 
ma-bakche Palace in summer, and the Begler-beg, 
on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus, in winter. 
He is said to be a noble-looking man, with sol- 
dierly bearing and searching black eyes. He is 
a devout Mohammedan and observes with great 
solemnity all the rites of Islam. Every Friday, 
which is the Moslem Sabbath, he goes to the 
mosque for prayer. He is usually accompanied 
by soldiery in gay uniforms, and it is an occasion 
of great interest to his subjects, who stand along 
the line and cry, "Padishah," meaning " father of 
his people." To hurrah would be disrespectful. 
Sometimes he rides a pure white Arabian horse, 
and that he may ride him in safety and with royal 
dignity, the animal is kept without food for the 
twenty-four hours previous. During all his life- 
time he must go to the mosque, as it is a sacred 
duty, and if too ill or feeble he must be carried. 

The fast of Ramadan lasts forty days, and is as 
rigidly observed by him as by the most humble of 
his subjects. At the feast of Sacrifice he slays with 
his own hand, at the door of the palace, a lamb, 
and divides the flesh among the poor. At the 
feast of Beiram he eats of black bread and bitter 
herbs, and prostrates himself in prayer five times, 

223 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

asking for the repose of the souls of the unburied 
dead. 

The legislative and executive will of the sultan is 
carried into effect through the grand vizir and the 
Sheik ul Islam. 

The grand vizir is a man of paramount conve- 
nience to the Turkish empire. If too threatening 
an appeal is made to the sultan by one or more of 
the powers, the sultan removes the grand vizir. 
This is very pacifying to the complainants — " The 
sultan has taken action." The next action taken 
by the sultan is to appoint another vizir to be in 
readiness for a future occasion, and that is the last 
heard of the matter, so far as the sultan is con- 
cerned. 

The next important duty of the grand vizir, 
after standing for dismissal, is to taste all the food 
prepared for the sultan, and put his seal on it, be- 
fore it is placed on the sultan's table. A grand op- 
portunity for the grand vizir. If the food has 
been poisoned, he may have the great honor of 
having died to save the sultan's life ! These two 
positions are quite enough for one man, when so 
many are seeking official place and pay. The sultan 
being absolute monarch, he is not bothered with 
any parliamentary proceedings or constitutional 
amendments. 

The grand eunuch ranks next the vizir, and 

224 



THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND THE SULTAN 



outranks all the other officers. He is marshal of 
the palace and has the title of Highness. His chief 
duty is to guard the door of the imperial harem. 
The grand eunuch has under him upward of three 
hundred subordinates, and often applies the basti- 
nado. The sultan has frequently been seen in con- 
sultation with the grand eunuch. 

The sultan is responsible to no one for the na- 
tional taxes, and may take from them whatever he 
pleases without rendering an account. 

The government censorship at Constantinople 
lays a heavy hand on all newspapers politically. 
There are two official press censors at the capital, 
and they control the editorial policy of all the papers 
in that city. The following is an edict of the sultan 
to the editors of newspapers in Turkey : 

"1. Give preference to all news regarding the 
health of the emperor and his family, the condition 
of agriculture, and the progress of industry and 
commerce. 

"2. No novels must be published that have not 
been approved by the minister of education and 
the guardian of public morals. 

" 3. Long literary and scientific articles must be 
avoided. The words 'to be continued' must not 
be used, as they excite too great expectations. 

" 4. Leads and pointed lines must not be used, 
as they produce offensive propositions and irrita- 

225 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 

tions, and may be mistaken as equivocations con- 
cerning his Imperial Majesty. 

"5. Carefully avoid the names of prominent 
people. Should a governor or an inferior office- 
holder be accused of theft, embezzlement, man- 
slaughter, or other crimes, the event must either be 
suppressed or represented as not approved. 

" 6. It is absolutely prohibited to publish petitions 
regarding abuses of the administration. 

" 7. It is not allowed to report attempts of mur- 
der against princes or riots in foreign countries, the 
knowledge of such events being not profitable to 
our loyal and peaceable people. 

"8. These new instructions shall not be pub- 
lished in your paper, as it might cause dissatisfied 
men to pass evil criticisms and remarks concern- 
ing them." 

The sultan's is the most expensive court in the 
world. In one of his palaces he has a theater and 
keeps a company to amuse him. He is said to 
have four wives, the number allowed by the Mo- 
hammedan religion. They are not married to him, 
however, and are called Jcadines. There are more 
than a thousand beautiful women in the sultan's 
harem, and fresh, pretty faces are constantly being 
added. He is legal heir of every woman in his 
harem. 

The sultan's mother is the despot of the harem, 

226 



THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND THE SULTAN 



having the right, subject to the sultan's approval, 
of life and death over all the inmates. There is 
no aristocracy in Turkey. A passing glance from 
the sultan raises any member of the harem to a 
higher rank. 

The sultan has a thousand horses in his stables. 
There is a law in Turkey against the exportation 
of horses. He does not speak English, reads no 
books, and spends more money than any other man 
alive. 

The Kurds are mountaineers who for centuries 
have preyed upon the Armenians, dealing in slave- 
girls as one of the most profitable occupations of 
Turkey, and are encouraged by the sultan. 

The Bosporus, or strait which unites the Black 
Sea with the Sea of Marmora, has a rapid and dan- 
gerous current on its way to the Mediterranean. 
In fact, it has three currents, one rapid and dan- 
gerous center current, and a counter-current on 
each shore. In the narrow portions of the strait 
these currents produce a violent agitation. This 
center current is known as the Devil's Current, and, 
beyond doubt, has been the death-scene of untold 
thousands. 

Since the execution of the janizaries the current 
has been accused of bearing away offenders and 
undesirable persons, from high officials down to 
school-boys, discontents, in subordinates, and the 

227 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



aged women of the harem. "Who can say whether 
it be true or not? The sultan holds the right of 
instant death to an offender of any kind. The 
harem doors are closed to the world. Who knows 
anything of all that come or go, or how they come, 
or where they go ? 



228 



XIV 



THE QUARRIES OF SOLOMON, THE TOMB OF 
MARY, AND THE DESTRUCTION OF 
JERUSALEM BY TITUS 

ERTTSALEM has underneath a portion 
of it subterranean quarries of vast ex- 
tent. They were accidentally discov- 
ered by Dr. Barclay in 1852. The 
knowledge of these quarries appears to have been 
lost. 

The doctor had been taking a walk, and when 
returning homeward, near the Damascus Grate, he 
heard his dog barking furiously and found him dig- 
ging close to the city wall. He investigated the 
cause, and found there was an opening under the 
wall, closed by a pile of loose dirt. Fearing to make 
any examination in the daytime, lest it should excite 
the opposition of the Moslems, he went with a mem- 
ber of his family in the night-time, and, with the aid 
of shovels and torches, soon found himself in a cav- 
ern made up of a succession of mammoth chambers 
and stately aisles. The rocky roof was supported 




DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



by immense columns of rock left by the workmen 
for that purpose. 

The day we visited the quarries was a beautiful, 
sunny day, but it would have been just as well to 
have chosen a rainy day or the night-time. There 
was never a poorer return for sunshine, for there 
was never blacker blackness than we met as soon as 
we were fairly inside the cavern. The guides and 
attendants carried torches, the visitors candles, 
which gave us a little more than starlight when 
we were near together; but if you fell behind, as 
there was a temptation to do, for the majority of 
the visitors were not careful sight-seers, it was 
then that the darkness wrapped itself around you 
with a smothering horror. It is impossible to see 
this place critically under such circumstances, but 
we would not have missed even a glimpse of it. 
"Who gave the place the name of Solomon's Quarries 
I do not know, but it is reasonable enough to be- 
lieve they might have been. There are a number 
of reasons given, and very good ones, for believing 
that some of the stones for the buildings of ancient 
Jerusalem were taken from these quarries, and also 
that some of the stones from them were used in the 
temple. 

There are stones of great size left partly dressed, 
others partly cut from the native rocks. Broken 
stones and chips from dressed stones are strewn 

230 



THE QUARRIES OF SOLOMON 

over the bottom of the chambers. They are fresh- 
and bright-looking, as though made but yesterday. 
If the stones in these quarries were not dressed for 
building purposes in Jerusalem, for what purpose 
were they dressed? Sunlight and fresh air were 
never better appreciated than when we emerged 
from Solomon's Quarries. 

From the quarries we followed on to the right 
toward the Valley of Jehoshaphat, stopping near 
the bridge to see the tomb of the Virgin Mary. I 
should have called it a church. It is considerably 
below the grade of the street. The main room is 
gained through the descent of a long flight of stairs. 
It has beautiful altars, brilliantly lighted with silver 
lamps. Joseph and the father and mother of Mary 
are also entombed here. 

Our inclination next led us in the direction of 
Mount Scopus. Whenever we have planned to see 
the camping-ground of Titus we have always failed 
for want of time. We have time to-day, for we 
shall take it. We had some difficulty in getting 
permission to cross some grain-fields, but a little 
money won the right of way. There is no reason 
why a farmer should have his crops run over by 
donkeys without recompense. I never paid for 
any kind of privilege more willingly. Titus had 
a good view-point from Scopus. This northeast 
view of Jerusalem is a beautiful one. We have 

231 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



brought our books, and will read about the siege 
and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. 

The siege of Jerusalem continued until the mis- 
eries of famine deadened every human instinct. 
Young people drove the aged from their food, and 
mothers took the food from their children. Men 
were tortured to tell where their provisions were 
concealed. Soldiers raked sinks and holes to find 
offal for food, and ate leather and hay. Titus ac- 
cused parents of eating the flesh of their own chil- 
dren, and declared he would " bury the abominable 
crime in the ruins of their city," and that he 
"would not suffer the sun to shine on that city 
whose mothers ate their own children, and whose 
fathers were no less culpable, who did by their ob- 
stinacy reduce them to such an extremity." It may 
be well to give this accusation the benefit of a 
doubt. Titus did some things quite as bad as eat- 
ing dead babies, and he must needs have a good 
excuse for them. 

He ordered all the groves between Scopus and 
Jerusalem cut down, and otherwise prepared for 
action. On the 1st of July he began to batter the 
walls of Antonio, and captured the castle on the 5th. 
He pursued the flying Jews even to the temple; 
this was Herod's temple. Titus and Josephus ex- 
horted the Jews to submit, but they preferred the 
worst of miseries to submission. Titus then ordered 



THE QUARRIES OF SOLOMON 

the fortress of Antonio, which occupied, I believe, 
a portion of the temple area, to be leveled to the 
ground, and set fire to the north and west porticos 
of the temple. Finding the walls of the inner tern pie 
to be of too great strength for the battering-rams, 
and that it was impossible to undermine the gates, 
he was obliged to bring to his aid the use of fire, and, 
whether ordered or not, — it sounds better to say 
not, — a soldier cast a flaming firebrand through the 
golden window into the chambers on the north side, 
which immediately set them on fire. Now it sounds 
well to say the utmost endeavors were used to pre- 
vent "the fatal effects," but they were made to no 
purpose. It is not quite clear why a general should 
say he would not suffer the sun to shine on a city, then 
fire the most important structure, and then use his 
utmost endeavors to avoid "fatal effects." How- 
ever, the flames spread through the temple, and 
every one in it perished, while the soldiers cut to 
pieces every one found outside of it, and the ground 
was covered thick with the dead. 

A few fled to Mount Zion and attempted a de- 
fense; but Titus planted batteries, and made a 
breach in the wall, with " fatal effects," and the end 
was at hand. The buildings that escaped fire were 
ordered razed to the ground. From this time the 
Jews ceased to be a nation, but always have re- 
mained a distinct people. 

233 



XV 



THE BEAUTIFUL GATE AND THE 
VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT 

N seeing the interior of the Beautiful 
Grate, now called "G-olden Gate," we 
were highly privileged without know- 
ing it. We were not aware that it had 
been closed to the public, and decidedly so. The 
Jcawars from the consulate had been detailed to ac- 
company us to places where official presence was 
needed. His official attire was a little grotesque, 
notwithstanding he was a gentlemanly young man. 
On the back of his coat were embroidered an Amer- 
ican eagle and a shield, done in the colors of our 
country. The design nearly covered the back of 
the garment. It was well done, and I am glad to 
see our colors at all times. At the time there were 
workmen in the gate, and our American eagle 
walked in, and, no one objecting, we walked in 
also and remained as long as we chose. I suppose 
that embroidery explains why. 

234 




THE BEAUTIFUL GATE 



The Golden Gate stands on the site of the Gate 
Susa, leading to the temple. It has still, as the old 
gate had, a double portal. The one was called 
the "Gate of Mercy," the other the "Gate of Repen- 
tance," the Arab name for the whole being the Eter- 
nal Gate. We enter the temple by the Eternal 
Gate, whose two portals are Eepentance and Mercy. 
The pillars, the Moslems say, were presented to 
King Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. Be that as 
it may, they are handsome enough for a royal 
present. 

This gate seems to have been the only entrance 
from the east. It was here that the healing of the 
lame man took place. It was in ruins for a long 
time, but has been restored. A stairway leads to 
the roof, from which a fine view of the temple area 
is to be had. The entrance from the outside is 
walled up. There is a tradition extant that when 
the Saviour returns to earth a second time it will 
be through this gate he will make his triumphal 
entry and wrest Jerusalem from the Moslems. How 
much this has to do with the walling up of the 
gate and refusing entrance from within, I do not 
know. 

A short distance south of the Golden Gate is the 
Pool of Siloam. From ancient times, although one 
of the smallest pools in Jerusalem, it had been relied 
upon to store water from springs. It had the pe- 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



culiarity of suddenly increasing its waters. It was 
to this pool that the Levite was sent with the golden 
pitcher at the last great day of the feast of Taber- 
nacles. It was to the Pool of Siloam that the Lord 
sent the blind man, the sacredness and efficacy of 
whose waters is still believed in at Jerusalem. In 
1880 a very important inscription was discovered 
by a boy, who slipped and fell into the water, and 
upon rising discovered letters on the rocky wall. 

Near the Jaffa G-ate is a tower left by Titus as a 
memorial to show the almost impregnable strength 
of the city he had captured. It is called the Tower 
of David. The Hippicus of Josephus, it is one of the 
few relics of the former city. It is constructed of 
huge blocks of gray granite, some of them measur- 
ing from nine to thirteen feet in length and four 
feet in depth. The stones are beveled on the edge, 
after the manner of ancient Jewish masonry. It is 
stern and gloomy-looking to the last degree. 

As the memory of Titus brings only horror, we 
hurry up the donkeys and follow along the wall to 
David's tomb and the Chamber of the Last Supper. 
After going up and down stairs, and turning this way 
and that, conduct ed by as vicious- and angry-looking 
a man as I ever saw the other side the Atlantic, we 
were shown the chamber, and in another room a sar- 
cophagus-looking object with a red cover over it ; 
this was all. I have been told what they claim to be 

236 



THE BEAUTIFUL GATE 



real is a coffin in a room below, with a velvet cover 
elegantly embroidered. It is all a fiction, and a 
foolish loss of time to go there unless one is an artist 
and wants a model for a Satan ; then, if he could 
hire the custodian, he would secure a prize, for there 
is not his equal. 

Being near the wall of the area of the temple, we 
continued our sight-seeing by turning into a street 
supposed to lead there. It did not lead anywhere, 
and we had to turn back, and entered another street, 
with nearly the same result. Finally I gave a pale- 
looking boy ten cents to lead the donkeys out. There 
was a lady with me, and we found ourselves within 
a few feet of the wall. I had never intended to 
come here, and especially on Friday or a feast-day 
of the Jews. By accident I had done both, and I 
shall not soon forget it. Lamentations and tears 
affect me nervously; I am liable to cry if others 
cry, and I had not been there five minutes before I 
was crying with the Jews. If any one can come to 
this mourning wall when the Jews are here, and 
not feel touched by their lamentations, he is hard- 
hearted. A clerical-looking gentleman with a fine, 
open face and blue eyes interpreted for a num- 
ber who were listening. The following is a pas- 
sage or so : " Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion 
is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy 
and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised 

237 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



thee, is burned up with fire : and all our pleasant 
things are laid waste." 

Leader. " We pray thee have mercy on Zion." 

Response. " Grather the children of Jerusalem." 

Leader. " Haste, haste, Redeemer of Zion." 

Response. " Speak to the heart of Jerusalem." 

Leader. "May beauty and majesty surround 
Zion." 

Response. " ! turn thyself mercifully to Jeru- 
salem." 

Leader. " May the kingdom soon return to Zion." 

The fidelity of the Jews to one another and to their 
faith is marvelous. They are not permitted within 
the inclosure of the mosque ; so here at the west wall, 
which is admitted to be the area wall of Solomon's 
temple, they congregate and pour out their lamen- 
tations, and have done so for centuries. 

From Zion's Gate around the village of Siloam, 
and up the slope of Olivet to Gethsemane, is an 
almost continuous Jewish cemetery. There is a 
Moslem cemetery near the Golden Gate, but it is of 
no great extent. 

The Moslems turn the face of their dying toward 
Mecca, and amid the lamentations of the family 
the attendants exclaim: "Allah! There is no 
strength or power but in God. To God we belong, 
and to him we must turn. God have mercy on 
him." They believe the soul of the departed re- 

238 



THE BEAUTIFUL GATE 



mains with its body for a night after burial. The 
Mohammedans always bury their dead, and are op- 
posed to cremation. The Mohammedan graves are 
many of them covered with a box-like tomb. The 
Jewish graves are marked by a slab of rough lime- 
stone, excepting some of the old tombs, like that of 
Absalom. The great desire of all devout Jews is to 
be buried in this locality. According to their inter- 
pretation of a prophecy in Joel, it is to the Valley 
of Jehoshaphat the Messiah will come, and the val- 
ley will be the scene of the last judgment. 

After supper it was cool and pleasant, and, as- 
sisted by friends, I walked on the walls around to 
where I had a fine view of the Valley of Jehosha- 
phat. It is interesting, but it is fatiguing. In 
passing around the walls of the sentry-houses the 
walk was very narrow, at most not over two feet, 
— I should judge less, — and nothing to cling to. 
The distance walked was not so fatiguing as the 
constant anxiety was exhausting. 



239 



XVI 

RETROSPECT AND DEPARTURE 

HY any one, having informed himself 
about Jerusalem as he should before 
visiting the city, can feel disappoint- 
ment, unless it is in its favor, I can- 
not well understand. It is general knowledge that 
it is not a pleasure city, in the usual acceptance 
of the term, and it is also common knowledge that 
it is an old, old city, with narrow, irregular streets, 
and many of them as far from cleanliness as some 
of the inhabitants are from godliness. The charm 
of the place is its Christian associations. I do not 
mean what has been done in the name of Christian- 
ity, but applied Christianity, and the life of Christ, 
and also the scenes of the history of Bible times. 

It was my good fortune to be a part of the time 
that I was in Jerusalem in a clean and comparatively 
new house, of which the roof with its extended 
view was by far the most important and attractive 
part. Here I spent every spare moment in study. 

240 




RETROSPECT AND DEPARTURE 



What a map of Jerusalem was spread out around 
me ! The house was built according to Bible com- 
mand : " When thou buildest a new house, then thou 
shalt make a battlement for thy roof." So, added 
to fresh air and a beautiful view, there was safety. 

The crying sin against Jerusalem is the outra- 
geous nonsense that is recited to one in its tra- 
ditions, and seriously too. Travelers will follow on 
and listen and pay for the retailing of the grossest 
absurdities that have been fabricated, and which are 
sold to folly, for an income to some holy place. If 
people were as ashamed to be seen listening to such 
trash as they would in being caught buying pinch- 
beck jewelry at a mock auction, the business would 
decline. Barnum said he humbugged people " be- 
cause they insisted on it." Max Miiller wrote long 
ago of the process of human thought by which 
"elaborate myths grow from the seed-germ of a 
wish to be accepted as a fact." One great reason 
for following after these traditions is a weak place 
in human nature. Next to a conquest over sin and 
Satan is the unwillingness of a traveler to say 
honestly and unreservedly, " I did not see this or 
that." In all this we must not forget our obliga- 
tion to unbroken traditions that have made a great 
deal of reasonable and important history; with 
these we are not quarreling. 

I could not go to the Church of the Holy Sepul- 

241 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



eher, and see the places claimed as the scene of so 
many and such sacred events huddled together under 
one roof, without doubting everything and having 
every thought or feeling of sanctity depart from 
me. One day I found myself reasoning why a re- 
spectable man should build a new sepulcher within 
a few feet of a place used for the execution of crim- 
inals, and it so affected me that I walked out of the 
church and never entered it again. I had always 
had a conviction that there was where the Saviour 
was sepulchered, and I would not remain and have 
it uprooted. I still have the feeling that he was 
there entombed, and that he was crucified at Gol- 
gotha, the elevation outside the present walls. 

There are plenty of absolutely indisputable local- 
ities where great events have transpired to occupy 
a person's time for weeks and months, and why 
spend so much time or thought on things uncertain ? 

The last two weeks of my time in J erusalem had 
been spent more as a citizen than a traveler. A 
thorough rest was needed and gratefully welcome, 
and it was over all too soon. 

The season was advanced, and we had already 
outstayed our time. The next day we were to sail 
from J oppa at half -past two. At noon Dr. Palmer 
had not yet arrived. After luncheon two friends 
started out on the Nablus road to meet him. In 
the early evening he arrived at Neby Samwil, or 

242 



RETROSPECT AND DEPARTURE 



Mizpeh, once the rallying-place of the Israelites. 
They all hurried on to Jerusalem as fast as tired 
horses and men could hurry, arriving between 
nine and ten. Preparations for leaving were rapidly 
made, and we slept two hours in our clothes, then 
took a hurried breakfast which a kind heart and 
hand had prepared. The great court door was 
opened, and we filed out into the street, followed by 
two porters with our baggage. A Jerusalem senti- 
nel dog gave a bark, another and another followed, 
until it seemed to me it had passed round the walls 
and every dog had been heard from. But these 
dogs were discriminating and lazy; one round 
satisfied them, and quiet was restored. At the 
Damascus Grate our carriage was awaiting us with 
the usual three horses, and they were fine, strong 
animals. Our baggage was securely fastened, the 
driver gathered up his lines, and we started for 
Joppa. What a lovely moonlight night it was ! 
We passed the orphanage and convent, and when 
at the summit of the mountain we stopped and, 
looking back, bade J erusalem a last good-by. 

Early as the hour was, there were camels and 
donkeys, with their various burdens, and even 
women, with little, flat baskets of fuel on their 
heads, making their way to market. We made 
good time over the mountain while the air was cool 
and invigorating, but when we began to descend to 

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DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



the plains, and had exchanged the moon for the 
sun, it grew hotter and hotter, and with fine horses 
and frequent relays we were losing time. Besides 
the sun, which was unusually hot for the last of 
April, the wind began to blow from the desert, and 
was like the breath of flame. It is said that Mas- 
awah, on the Eed Sea, is the hottest place on 
earth. It was not that day; it was the Plain of 
Sharon. The horses were white with foam, and 
could go but a short distance without stopping. 
We were inching along, but time was not. We 
were the only travelers from Jerusalem that morn- 
ing, and when we arrived in Joppa we scarcely 
dared look for our ship, for fear it had left us, and 
there would not be another in a week. We paid 
to get our baggage through the custom-house. 
That did not take long; more time was taken in 
keeping possession of it. The wharf was crowded 
with men who wished to row us to the ship, and 
every one of them tried to get hold of a piece of 
baggage to secure our custom. The ship waited 
for us, and at last we reached it. Next day was 
spent in Port Said. 



244 



XVII 



PORT SAID, ALEXANDRIA, AND MARSEILLES 

HE town of Port Said owes its existence 
to the Suez Canal, and is the seat of its 
general manager. There is a great deal 
of life and stir at the wharves and docks 
from the constant arrival and departure of ships 
for the East and West. Aside from the shipping 
there is little to claim attention. We were detained 
here an exceedingly hot day from early morning 
until six in the evening. We spent most of the 
day on deck while the vessel discharged cargo. I 
entertained myself with the doings of the port. I 
spent considerable time watching men coaling ves- 
sels, and felt great sympathy for them. It was 
heavy, dirty work, and I wondered it was possible 
to obtain men to do such slavish work. It must 
mean great want or utter inability to labor in work 
requiring a higher mental state. There was an 
army of them constantly employed. They went 
from one vessel to another in the largest boats I 

245 




DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



ever saw propelled with. oars. The boats, the men's 
clothes and their faces, were as black with coal- 
dust as the coal itself. There were twenty-five or 
thirty, I should judge, in each boat, and altogether 
they were the most dismal crafts I ever saw afloat. 
They were so black, they impressed me as being on 
some errand of death. The next that enlisted my 
sympathy were German troops and their horses on 
board vessel, bound for the south, of Africa. They 
were huddled together on deck, with a burning sun 
over them and the steaming sea beneath them. The 
poor horses put their heads out of the port-holes, 
trying to get a breath of air. The boys were mak- 
ing the best of it, carrying on commerce with cake 
and orange peddlers. The peddlers would come 
alongside the ship ; then the soldiers would let down 
an old straw hat, to which they had attached a 
string none too strong, and the peddlers would fill 
the hat partly full, and the soldiers would pull it 
up. If the peddlers put in more than three oranges 
the string would break. It was amusing to see the 
opening of trade ; it was as exciting as a free-silver 
election. The soldiers at first were afraid to send 
down their money, and insisted that the cakes and 
oranges should come up first. The peddlers were 
afraid, if they sent up the oranges and cakes, they 
might not receive their pay. There was a jargon 
of voices, each insisting on their own way of doing 

246 



PORT SAID, ALEXANDRIA, AND MARSEILLES 



business, while in all probability neither party 
understood a single word, but each party under- 
stood perfectly what the other wished. After a 
little time they made some kind of a commercial 
treaty, and trade was opened. All day long the 
hat was in the shipping business. Toward night 
the crown gave out, but was restored with a piece 
of blue cloth. The last I saw of the old hat, it was 
making regular trips. 

The deck of our own ship was overrun with ped- 
dlers, selling all sorts of small goods ; among them 
the ostrich-feather vender was prominent. I found 
that fine ostrich-feathers brought a good price near 
their home market as well as far away. I was not 
a little interested in listening to the remarks of a 
man who invested money in ostrich-farming. He 
said, although they were called the birds of the 
desert, it had been found they thrived better on 
grass-lands, and that the ostrich chose the desert 
life for self -protection. 

It costs a number of thousand dollars to establish 
an ostrich-farm. It requires six acres to a dozen 
birds, and the ground has to be inclosed by a strong, 
high fence. A chick a month old costs fifty dollars, 
while a grown bird with fine plumage will bring 
a thousand. They brood four times a year ; each 
brood will average twelve chickens. A fine grown 
bird yields from twenty to twenty-five feathers, 

247 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



the best white feathers selling at Cape Town for 
five dollars, to say nothing of what the black ones 
bring. 

The male birds are black, with white feathers in 
their wings and tail. The female is drab ; her fea- 
thers are dyed. The plumage of a domesticated 
ostrich is more downy and far superior to that of 
a wild one. The average income from all the birds 
together is about one hundred dollars each. The 
feathers exported from Cape Town amount to over 
four million dollars' worth yearly. 

The plucking of a bird is a dangerous undertak- 
ing, and large prices are paid to men who follow 
this occupation. It is said their biting is nothing 
to be compared with their kicking, and they have 
been known to break the bones of a plucker. They 
grow to great size, averaging eight feet in height 
and three hundred pounds in weight, and live forty 
or fifty years. They have wonderful strength and 
endurance, and when at liberty are as fleet as a 
horse. 

The day at last wore away, and we steamed out 
of port for Alexandria, arriving next morning. 

" Two days and a night in Alexandria." So says 
the steward, so says the captain. The key turns in 
our state-room door, and in a twinkling we are off 
to the city. Think of it, ye weary and worn ; two 
days of uncrowded time ! Alexandria was a glori- 

248 



PORT SAID, ALEXANDRIA, AND MARSEILLES 



fied place ; it was beautiful, it was interesting, it 
was lovely. 

The battles of the East had all been fought. 
Travelers were scarce. Egypt and Palestine were 
burning under a sun of fire. Alexandria had a 
cool breeze from the sea; the best rooms in the 
hotel were attainable at a fair price. We ate at 
leisure, and slept as though there were no morrow. 
We strolled about, and thought of the ancient Alex- 
andria, with its four thousand grand palaces and 
beautiful gardens, and temples and seats of learn- 
ing, and a library that contained a copy of every 
then known work. Here the Bible was first trans- 
lated into Greek, and here was the scene of the 
downfall of pagan philosophy. The destruction of 
the heathen temples and statuary began in the reign 
of Theodosius, during the Roman period. He de- 
clared the Christian religion to be the religion of 
the empire, and paganism received its death-blow. 
These were the days of Cyril and Hypatia. I 
named one street Hypatia Street, it so nearly com- 
pared with the one I imagined while reading Kings- 
ley's story. 

In the old part of the town I watched the gold- 
workers; they had little workshops, open to the 
street, where they wrought their gold ornaments. 
In front was a tiny show-case where they displayed 
their jewelry; they worked, or tended shop, as cus- 

249 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



toniers or circumstances dictated. There were a 
number of veiled Egyptian women about these 
shops. 

Then we came to a Mohammedan graveyard; 
women were weeping over a recent grave. While 
passing along one street we met from time to time 
wagons without any box, on which were placed a 
few articles of furniture. Noticing that all bore 
objects of art or use belonging to household outfit- 
ting, I asked what it all meant, and was told that 
they were wedding presents being carried to the 
house of the coming bride and groom. To what 
nationality they belonged I did not learn. These 
presents were certainly collected with thought and 
judgment, and no duplicates, let them come from 
where they may. There was no evidence of the 
young pair being burdened with fifty clocks or 
twenty ice-pitchers. 

We spent a good deal of time in the shops of the 
new town, and I so much enjoyed it ! They were 
attractive with goods and trinkets from far-away 
India, Damascus, the Soudan, and South Africa. 
These shopkeepers had a most alluring Oriental 
way of saying, " If you see anything you like, take 
it ; it is yours," or " take it, and praise Grod for it " ; 
and then they would insist on our taking a cup of 
Turkish coffee. I tasted it once or twice to see 
what it was like. To me it was anything but pal- 

250 



PORT SAID, ALEXANDRIA, AND MARSEILLES 

atable. The coffee was ground as fine as snuff, 
and settled in a muddy pool in the bottom of the 
cup, which was of the daintiest china. There was 
no end to the time and attention they would give. 
They knew perfectly well that our ship was to re- 
main in port for a time, and being idle, we were 
liable to spend a little money foolishly. 

During the visit we learned that the most impor- 
tant export from Alexandria was cotton and cotton- 
seed. Our "late unpleasantness " gave cotton-grow- 
ing a strong impetus, and it has ever since proved a 
great source of wealth to Egypt. Over three million 
hundredweight are annually shipped from this port, 
besides large exports of grain ; and there is a con- 
siderable traffic from central and southern Africa 
in ostrich-feathers and elephants' tusks. 

The Macedonian monarch made no mistake when 
he conceived the idea of Alexandria being a grand 
vantage-ground in the East, and an easy and natu- 
ral way through which to turn the tide of Egyptian 
commerce toward the Grecian empire. 

Our two days are finished, and we are as delighted 
to be again on board our good ship as we were to 
leave it, and for the next four days our diary for 
each day read very like a noted traveler's : " Got up 
and dressed, and went to bed." 

The first thing that broke the monotony of this 
restful voyage, during which we ate five times a day 



DAYS IN THE HOLY LAND 



and drank lemonade between meals, was passing 
through the Straits of Messina, in sight of Reggio 
(ancient Rhegium), on the coast of Italy This 
place is mentioned in Paul's voyage over these 
waters. It was evening, and the most we could see 
were glistening lights and the dark sea. In a few 
hours we passed through the Straits of Bonifacio, 
with Sardinia on one side, and Corsica, the birth- 
place of Napoleon, on the other. The day was beau- 
tiful, the sky clear, the Mediterranean as smooth 
and silvery as a lake, and the air as balmy as June. 
"We spent our time on deck looking for familiar 
places and taking new views of the charming little 
islands that dot the sea. The sunset was gorgeous 
and closed another happy day. At eight o'clock in 
the evening we stepped on shore at Marseilles. 



252 



